FIRST SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS DAY Year A January 1, 2017

   

Isaiah 63:7-9  •  Psalm 148  •  Hebrews 2:10-18  •  Matthew 2:13-23

Our readings begin with praise, but as we end 2016 and begin a new year, are many of us really feeling this inner joy about the goodness of life?  It has been a hard year of strong and varied opinions.  The world seems divided into so many factions and each is adamant in their views.

Strange as it may seem, though our reading sing of God’s praise, that ancient world was also divided into many factions and danger was on every corner. 

We continue the Christmas story and read about Herod’s reaction to the birth of Christ and his inability to locate and kill Jesus meant the death of all the babies in that area under 2 years.  Can you imagine the panic?  Fortunately for Jesus, the Angel had warned Joseph in a dream and they were able to escape into Egypt, but what of those who had no such warning?

It seems that even in our Advent readings there were these two sides of the story; God doing something amazing and worth singing praises about, and the darkness of the circumstances around.  The moral to the story is that even though we see all this crazy, and horrible stuff around, God is still doing things. But where ?

Isaiah 63:9 “in all their distress. It was no messenger or angel but his presence that saved them; in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.”

We are always on the lookout for a messenger or an angel.  Come on, admit it, how many of you have clicked on those facebook links that randomly spit out your phrase for 2017, or your personal colour, or the link that defines you as an “Earth Angel”? 

The one about the Earth Angel basically says that an Earth Angel is distressed by the state of the world…. Hmmm… well is anyone not distressed?  Hmmm fancy that… now we all think we are Earth Angels, but we are still searching for the messenger and we click on the next link….

I used to often attend a Bible Vacation school at this time of year - Capernwray conventions, with international speakers presenting the Good News that “Christ in you is the hope of Glory” – And actually, there is the key!!!  But more on that later….  I remember also, going home and hearing a friend say, “if only we could have these speakers all the time”. 

There is a major flaw in this way of thinking.  If we are looking for a “messenger” or “angel”, we will miss what is right in front of us.  We miss the truth because we forget that God has not sent a “messenger” and neither has he sent an “angel”.  God saves us by HIS presence.  And His presence is always with us.

Mind you, Angels and messengers are still used by God, but they come to us “Suddenly”.  (not where or when we expect).

Matthew 2:19,20  “When Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child's life are dead."

When we are looking for some “special” messenger or angel, we forget that God’s presence is always with us and he speaks through the ordinary and everyday.  It could be the homeless man or the intellectually impaired lady, the very simple young girl or even a child. 

It doesn’t feel very special at the moment.  It is just the turn over of another year with dreams unfulfilled, frustrations compounded and disappointments abounding, not to mention the grief that seems relentless.

Like in the time of Jacob, where the whole people went into slavery in Egypt, Jesus was sent into Egypt, and then called out. But still there was danger.  There is rescue, but still there is darkness. 

This is the story of our life and of our faith.  There is no fancy answer with mystical trappings of glowing Angels and messengers with auras of light, but the reality of the Gospel, co-incidentally is “Christ in you, the hope of glory”…..  And it is worth singing praise about.

We forget that by our Baptism we are alive in Christ and Christ is in us.  He is always in us and with us, and in our darkness his presence is continuing to save us.  I often think we would do well to learn from the Sanskrit practise of namaste or namaskar.  This is where each person is greeted with a bow to acknowledge the divine within them.

My prayer for myself and for us all for 2017, is that our eyes can be opened to see God’s presence amidst all that we experience, and that we can see and understand this saving Presence of God.

Nativity of the Lord - TUNING IN

NATIVITY OF THE LORD proper 1 year A
Isaiah 9:2-7  •  Psalm 96  •  Titus 2:11-14  •  Luke 2:1-14, (15-20)

Isaiah 9:2 “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness on them light has shined.”

I have a daughter who talks a lot.  She has lots of great things to say, but she has been a chatterbox all her life.  Recently her elder sister told the story of her noticing a change in radio stations.  The chatterbox informed her that she had just told her about this change about 5 minutes ago.  The problem is that sometimes we tune out and we miss some great stuff.

The Christmas story is one that we’ve heard often.  Sometimes amidst the busy time we tune out to the great stuff contained in the season.

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.  When we are in the dark it is hard to discern one thing from another, but in the light we see things clearly…. Or at least we have the opportunity to actually see things clearly, but first we need to look.  Just the same as hearing the message, we can tune in or tune out…. Like a candle in the darkness, we can focus on things in the light, or worry about the shadows and darkness.

What is the message for this Christmas?

We hear the story every year, and every year is an opportunity to hear God’s voice.  We think he is silent, or saying the same old same old, but it could be that we are actually not listening.

Way back at the time of Christ’s birth we read that “Mary pondered these things in her heart.”  She had given birth to a son, though she had never been with a man.  She had been visited by an Angel and had to tell the man she was engaged to that she was with child by God’s Holy Spirit – imagine how that went down!!!  Then she had the Shepherds visit her, telling of their own encounter with the Angels.  Mary pondered all these things.

The Jews were waiting for the Messiah, but they thought he was going to be a strong military leader who would whip their enemies and Israel would no longer be subject to any other authority.  As we know Jesus was different from what any expected.

Success is different in the eyes of God, to what it is in popular culture.  Did you ever think about the amazing rejoicing of the Angels over the success of their king and ours, born in a lowly manger?

There was darkness all around.  It was night when the Angel appeared to the shepherds.  There was darkness when Herod found out a King was born and there would be much darkness surrounding the ministry of Jesus.  But HE is the light.

In our own darkness and troubles, Jesus is the light, but are we looking and are we seeing.  We may not see the success that we desire, but yet, the success of God’s plan for our lives may be alive and well.

Titus 2:11 “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all,”

The undeserved favour of God is offered for us and brings us salvation.  What does “Salvation” mean for us?

There are many churches who use the term, “he got saved”, talking about the experience of personal responding to God, but salvation to all is bigger than a catch phrase can capture.

Salvation means that God loves us so much that he made a way for us to be in constant, unconditional communion with him.   He is light in our ever present darkness.  There is no other “so called god” who has done this.  Every other religion relies on what we must do to attain some kind of goodness…  in Christianity alone, God gives himself as sacrifice so that we need do nothing but accept, respond, enjoy.

“In constant communion” doesn’t mean that we always listen.  As my daughters have taught me, we do need to tune in.

If we choose to accept, we will find that Jesus, is a great light in our lives, but this does not mean that there is no more darkness. Our challenge for this Christmas is to rejoice in that light, tuning in to the message of God.

Reflection for 10th July 2016

Reflection for 10^th July 2016

Click on Scripture Lessons below for study links and resources:

Amos 7:7-17 

Psalm 82 

Colossians 1:1-14
 

Luke 10:25-37

Let me tell you about the dark side….

According to Yoda, fear is a path to the dark side.  Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate and hate leads to suffering. 

This is almost the opposite of what was read in the New Testament from 2 Peter 1:5-6 “For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith virtue; and to virtue, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.….”  However…  There is a dark side to the readings that were read this last weekend.

The first reading was from Amos.  It begins with a message from God about applying a plumb line and the meaning was that God was aware of the evil in Israel and was about to carry out justice.  Why mention it and why not just carry it out? 

We often think that the image of God in the Old Testament was about judgement and wrath, but this is certainly not the case.  God’s prophets suffered because of God’s patience and mercy with the people that they served.  God spoke through his prophets so as to give the people every possible chance to do the right thing.  The reason for this announcement of judgement was in the hope that the king and his people would repent and change their ways.  But this is not the dark side to which I refer….

In the New Testament Gospel reading we had the story of the Good Samaritan, where a man was travelling and fell into the hands of thieves.  He was beaten and left for dead…. That that is not the dark side to which I refer either….

In the reading from Amos, the priest, Amaziah, heard the message from Amos and told him to go back to the land of Judah and earn his keep as a prophet there.  This was inferring that he was from a line of prophets and it was almost a career choice.  I look at some of those in ministry and sometimes you can see that the kind of person that they are suits the profession and the fit and model work and you know that it is a logical choice that could easily be confirmed by others…… but this was not the case with Amos and he was firm and sure in his reply to the priest.  His chosen profession was nothing like that which was described by Amaziah, but instead God had called him to speak his word, and he answered the call. 

This begs a few questions, one of which would be; why didn’t God choose to give his message to the priest or someone more “fitting” that profession?  And secondly, what message and warning is there for us today?

Today we have people who fit very well into ministry and we listen to them.  But what would happen if there was a message from someone who didn’t seem to fit the model?

Now let me tell you about the dark side:

Amaziah was the priest who heard the message and was in direct contact with the prophet.  He had access to the law of God and knowledge.  But he did not support Amos, instead he went and complained about him to the king.

Amos was betrayed by the very person who should have had his back.

In the New Testament and the famous story about the Good Samaritan, there were a number of people who passed by the man who was left for dead on the side of the road.  There was a priest who passed by and also a Levite.  A Levite was the family from which the priests came.  In other words, these were the people who were supposed to be God’s people.  These were the keepers of God’s law.

Now this bit gets tricky because technically the priest and the Levite would have been deemed ceremonially unclean and not able to fulfill their “Godly” duties if they were to touch the man who was beaten/ possibly dead.  So, in their eyes, they were keeping God’s law by staying away from the “unclean” situation.

So much can be said about this aspect and the relationship to our modern life, because there are many Christians who think they need to keep separate from the things of the world lest they become contaminated and influenced by it…. And they will quote scripture to justify themselves.  Are they justified?   Who is right?  Who is doing God’s will?

Ironically, the story of the Good Samaritan was told in answer to the question about keeping the law of God.  It must have presented a real dilemma to the listeners.  We read it and miss a lot of the meaning and certainly miss how it relates today.   We sit in our churches and strive to do what is right, but how do we interact with others in need who are right near us?  We give money to missions overseas but miss the person in the supermarket that we talk to everyday who may have a greater need…. Maybe not for money, but for friendship or support in some way…. 

The dark side of these stories is the betrayal.  The way these people were ostracized by those who were meant to be the advocates for God is the pain and dark side of the reading …. And ironically those who were thinking that they were keeping the law most purely, were on the path to the dark side…. They acted out of fear… fear leading to anger, anger leading to hate and hate leading to suffering.

Beware the path to the dark side….. it is filled with good intentions and may even seem justified with scripture.  To know that you are on the path of God is to understand that LOVE needs to increase.  Love is what God is all about and the key phrase we should always be asking ourselves is; what is it that is the most life-giving and loving response in each situation?

All your doctrines lined up and in place.... 5th Sunday of Easter

FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER    Year C   April 24, 2016

 Acts 11:1-18   Psalm 148  Revelation 21:1-6 John 13:31-35

Recently I’ve been seeing a number of posts on facebook and hearing many people talk about being separate from those who are different.  Many of these are Christians who believe that they need to separate themselves from those who, according to them, do not interpret the word of God correctly and are therefore “unclean”.

After sadly stumbling upon a very derogatory video I felt compelled to post a status about how sad I felt.  The video talked about the problem of the world today being that “men love hores”.  Disgusting even to repeat, but this phrase was repeated over and over and described modern woman as being such.   The presenter of the video was a self-proclaimed man of God…. I would beg to differ! 

How interesting that our readings for this weekend present an opportunity for talking about this attitude that breeds judgement –this attitude which has an appearance of piety but is in fact a long way from the heart of God and is just down right wrong!

The first reading comes from Acts 11 and in verses 1-3 we read;  “Now the apostles and the believers who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also accepted the word of God.  So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him, saying, "Why did you go to uncircumcised men and eat with them?"

To explain; Gentile (uncircumcised) were considered “Unclean”.  Now, these who questioned are the very apostles who followed Jesus around during his ministry on earth.  Do you remember anything about that ministry?  Well let me remind you what these loyal Born Again and Spirit-filled followers had forgotten; Jesus was one who was often in trouble with the church officials because he hung out with the sinners.  He touched sick people (ie UNCLEAN) and he spoke with gentiles…. Even healing some of their sick.

OH… if you could hear me telling you this… you would see me most passionate!!!!   

 How can Born Again, Evangelical and Spirit-filled Christians have even asked Peter about eating with Gentiles, let alone criticized him???   And guess what…..???  Born Again, Evangelical and Spirit-filled Christians are still doing it!

There are those who will say that we must be separate from those bad old Catholics because they don’t have the right doctrine and therefore they are “Unclean”.  There are others that will say the same about the Pentecostals….  There are supposed Christians that will say you can only be a Christian if you keep the commandments – that means worshiping on the Sabbath…. Therefore all others are “UNCLEAN”.  And the list goes on…..

In the believers defence, they had been conditioned by their culture and by God’s own law, that there were certain traditions and very good laws that they must keep.  In fact God had to give Peter a very sure vision (3 times) about eating UNCLEAN food so that he would understand that God was telling him to BREAK that God-given law.

Now, why would God give a law and then tell Peter to break it?

Thinking….   Thinking…. Thinking…..

This is where common sense and the whole word of God must come together.  Those who get caught up in these things need to realize the instances in the Bible, the sacred word of God, when God’s law was broken and God was happy about it.  Studying these may serve better lessons than blindly and religiously keeping the Law - Which by the way, no one can perfectly do… only one did – but according the Pharisees and the Jewish religious officials, he, the Son of God, actually broke them….and so they crucified him.

In a time before refrigeration it only stands to reason that there needed to be some rules about food and UNCLEAN food was the more inclined to be quite practically troublesome.  There were also practical reasons that God demanded a religious separation….. God desired  the good of His chosen people whom he entrusted with His message and.... for starters, the cultures all around them believed in child and human sacrifices, and the Bible gives instances of God talking about this being an abomination.  So, yes… good reasons for this requirement, and yet there were still many times when blessings came through mixed unions… in fact these can be found in the human ancestry of Christ.

Even way back in that Old Testament, God had proclaimed that his people were to be a blessing to the world.  Jesus came and died for all, but how could his message reach the non-Jew if the Jews were not permitted to mix with others?  There were always converts to Judaism but that was not God’s plan…..  and still is not, He did not come to make us all Jews - though many confused Christians might encourage the adherence to those ancient Judaic laws and confuse you.

Peter was forgiven for his lapse in Jewish etiquette, when his critics saw that the Holy Spirit had been given to the gentiles, as this proved Gods approval.  How can you argue with that?  You can’t!  But in this day and age you will find that Christians can’t so easily recognise the Holy Spirit and where it is falling….  We forget to look for it.  I challenge us all to pray for our spiritual eyes to be opened…. In fact maybe the lack of the Holy Spirit is in our part and not in the “UNCLEAN”.

Let me tell you just a little about the other readings.  They talk about God dwelling with His people and making all things new…. Including Jerusalem.  This is not talking about a literal Jerusalem, but a spiritual one, indicating the precious home of God’s people and this includes us Gentiles – we are no longer UNCLEAN, we have been made clean by the gift of the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit came on the feast of Pentecost – Pentecost is the feast of the law…. A New Law was given on the very day of the feast of the Old law.

If I have not yet convinced you, let me point you toward our Gospel reading.  We read from the Gospel of John chapter 13:34-35 “ I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.  By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."

It is obvious to all those outsiders who look in at us that we are badly in need of a Holy Spirit revival, because they can see that there is no love.  The Holy Spirit comes to us, and is God dwelling in us…. God who saves and not condemns…. God who rescues and heals…. God who is love!  I’m so tired of the judging and rejecting.  Please let’s love instead.

EASTER

The traditional Churches have a traditional “Paschal Greeting” for this time of year.  One person says, “Christ is risen!” to which the other person replies, “He is risen indeed!”

I’m always aware of the contradictions held in our major Christian Holy Days.  There are many who will let you know, in no uncertain terms, that “Easter” was / is a pagan festival of fertility or life.  This is true, but not a reason to proclaim that the church is celebrating a pagan festival.  In fact, it is only the Christian church in our English speaking countries that would greet each other with, “Happy Easter”.  In Italy the greeting for this season is “Buona Pasqua!”

This greeting in Italy is basically translated, “Good Passover”.   Our “Paschal Greeting” is also descriptive of the Passover.

The Holy Passover that we celebrate as Christians needs to somehow be differentiated from the Jewish understanding because it IS different.  What shall we call it?  How can we make that distinction?

Looking into the etymology of the word “Easter’, it seems to be originally a word meaning “Dawn”… ie… the rising of the sun.  With this in mind we can see how this could have been a term used to distinguish the day of the resurrection.  This same word was also the name of a goddess of fertility and spring.   I’m only guessing now… but it would seem that this same word would be where we get the word EAST… as the direction in which the sun rises.

Was it Romeo or Juliet who proclaimed, “What’s in a name”?  Certainly there are people who will tell you that there is power in words.  I have to add that words and names are immersed in culture and without being immersed in that culture, and knowing for certain, we can only be guessing at the intentions of those who originally adopted the word “Easter”. 

I’m a creative person.  I like pictures, symbols and parables.  I like to use these things and see these things used to help people understand the deeper things of God.   I believe Jesus did too.

Last Easter I was feeling a bit disconnected from the celebration of Easter and happened to wonder into a McDonalds store for a late lunch where a lady had been doing kids face painting.  Somehow there was a connection with us and she offered to paint something on my arm.  I knew straight away that I needed a butterfly.  We conversed as she painted and I explained that a butterfly was a perfect Easter symbol for me.  It was a “God inspired moment for me”.  

The butterfly might not have the same significance for anyone else.  It worked for me, it connected me to God and yet it was just a butterfly painted on by an unbeliever.

What I’m saying here is that God wants us to connect with him.  Full Stop. 

Once we get past the name of this day, we can then deal with the meaning……  Christ, the Son of God, has risen!

There are numerous historical figures of whom there is less evidence of their reality, than of Jesus of Nazareth.  It is actually historical that this man lived.  It is noted by historians who are not Christians and therefore without bias.  However our recorded stories about him tell us that that he was put to death for claiming to be the Messiah, the Son of God….  This part also agrees with the historical accounts, but also the writings of his followers tell us that he rose from the dead.

If Christ did indeed rise from the dead, what does that mean?

For a start, it means that we should seriously take a look at what Jesus says and take notice.

It means HOPE.  Hope that there is purpose for this life, and assurance that there is life beyond. 

For me it tells me that God is!  I struggle to understand so many things and can’t make sense of many more, but of one thing I am certain, God Is!  And because God is, then I will continue to strive with him…. Strive to understand, strive to walk in his ways and strive to proclaim that which I do know to all, that here is the Good News.