Prepare....

Reflection for 9th December 2018

SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT  Year C  December 9, 2018

Malachi 3:1-4  •  Luke 1:68-79  •  Philippians 1:3-11  •  Luke 3:1-6

15 more days until Xmas – are you ready?

I have no advent calendar, I have not made a list of things to prepare, I have been chasing my tail all year.  I am hoping that really soon I will have time to stop and do these things, but I’m sad because I do so love this time of year and I want to have the time to really enjoy it, and for me that means to really and truly reflect on all it means.

Christmas- some have said it is a pagan festival anyway and as we become more commercialized it does appear to become more pagan, but is it?   I don’t believe so.  I remember looking into the sky at night as a child and having the sense that all of creation knew that this was Christmas the night of our Saviours birth.  Ah… and here is another thing that people argue about – was it really that date?  Actually, I did some research and though we can’t be sure, there actually is good reason to claim this date as the day of Christ’s birth, but regardless…. All around the world at this time of the year people are preparing for Christmas… - Christmas being a word that comes from two other words – Christ – meaning the anointed one (the messiah) and Mass( meaning the service that early Christians celebrated).  Therefore, Christmas is that sacred service celebrating the coming of Christ – the fulfilling of God’s promise to all mankind.

Now, back to preparing….. how do we prepare?

We read that John the Baptist enabled the people to prepare by proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

For many years before Christ, the Jews had used baptism in ritual cleansing ceremonies. John took this, already understood and familiar ceremony, and proclaimed it to the people with a specific purpose.  John was urging the people to admit their sin and acknowledge their need of a savour. 

These people knew the promise of God to send the messiah, but they believed all kinds of things about him which were not completely correct.  I suspect, even John himself didn’t know the full extent of God’s plan, but was faithful to what God called him to do – that was, to prepare hearts for the coming of the Messiah.

But here we are in the year 2018.  How do we prepare?

Recently someone handed me a card to hand to others….  It is a little card that says, “Merry Christmas”.  In smaller print it adds, “Are you good enough to make the list?”

My initial reaction was a bit of discomfort…. I feel that these kinds of cards are a bit of a slap in the face…  wishing Merry Christmas on one hand, and then pulling a swift kick in reminding all that they are not good enough.

Is this what John the Baptist did?

Not quite – John was more forthright and straightforward and maybe we should be too.

We all need to know our weakness – then we are ready to accept our Saviour.

In a conversation with a friend we spoke about how when we are under pressure we become people that we don’t like.  His conclusion was that he needs to stay away from stressful situations so that he can always be a nice person.  I figure though, that the person we are under pressure, is the real person we are, and we actually need these situations to remind us who we are and that what we really are, is not as great as we like to think.

Our reading from Malachi talks about the coming of Jesus being like a refiner’s fire.  A refiner’s fire sounds awesome… until you are in it!  A refiner uses a fire to heat metal to a molten state; then he skims off the dross that floats to the top. The refiner’s fire is, of course, maintained at an extremely high temperature.

Now, to me, this seems to tie in perfectly with what happens when we are put under pressure and stress.  Those personal traits of losing our temper and becoming quite cranky are the dross floating to the top.

My own recent bucket load of dross came to the surface, not very long ago at all.  I was under so much pressure and then a certain person accused me of something and I totally snapped and I snapped like I had forgotten that I knew how to – BIG TIME!   The experience left me struggling to forgive myself and struggling to justify my actions.  But there was no justification… and should be none.  All the hurt and fear that was actually present simply boiled to the top and exploded.

What was left was to acknowledge that I am no more than a very fallible human and I need a saviour.

How grateful I am that I have a saviour who loves forgives and accepts me as I am – and urges me to make amends – strive for peace – forgive others… and knowing who I am, have compassion and show mercy to others who are also fallible.

This is how we need to prepare for the coming of Christ.  John the Baptist asked the people to repent and be cleansed.   In repenting, they were agreeing that they were fallible and in need of a saviour.  The baptism was their renewed commitment to living in that reality.

Christmas is certainly a time where we have ample opportunity to be under pressure and stress and subjected to the refiners fire.  Sometimes it is the difficult family situations, and sometimes it is the chaos of the business of the season.  My prayer is that we will recognise it for what it is;  A divine gift of an opportunity to open our heart to the love of God, rejoicing in the gift of our Saviour’s unconditional forgiveness.

So... How do we prepare our hearts for Christmas?  The message is the same now as then... We prepare our hearts to receive him by recognizing our need for him.

WHO IS JESUS? Reflection on Reign of Christ Nov 25 2018

REIGN OF CHRIST - PROPER 29 (34)  Year B   November 25, 2018

• 2 Samuel 23:1-7 and Psalm 132:1-12, (13-18)  • Revelation 1:4b-8  • John 18:33-37

WHO IS JESUS?

At this time in the church year we start to focus on the fact that Jesus will come again.  Our reading from Revelation reveals him as the one who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty… Today we will focus on this aspect, what it means for us, and how God wants us to respond here and now.

You know, even that one statement holds so much for us to consider. Many people back almost 2000 years, and many today, think of Jesus simply as a good man, a moral teacher, or a prophet, but this statement says that he is and he was and he is to come…. Implying a whole lot of things about the nature of Jesus – and just to clarify, it then refers to him as the Almighty. What do you make of that? And what do the people of today generally make of that?

In our Gospel reading Pilate asks Jesus if he is a King.  Now, Pilate has Jesus in front of him, a man arrested and charged with disturbing the peace and accused of blasphemy  - Blasphemy being that he claimed to be the son of God and even equal with God.

I’m not sure why Pilate even asked Jesus that question, except that he must have sensed something of the divine in Jesus – because surely, logically, if Jesus was a traditional King, his followers would have been fighting for him – and this very thing is what Jesus explains to Pilate when he went on to explain that his Kingdom was not of this world.

Now at this point, if you can really imagine the scene, Pilate must have had to wrestle with the dilemma of who is Jesus– or more accurately – the trilemma of the truth about Jesus.  It was coined a Trilemma by C. S. Lewis – and it is something we all need to think about.  I get very frustrated when people think that all this Christianity is simply a belief based on nothing.  Jesus is an historical, real and fair dinkum person – We know this because of historical documents other than the scriptures that mention him – not to mention the immense impact on the whole world, such that we count time from the year of his birth. 

Therefore, Jesus being a real historical figure, we need to ask the question that Pilate asked and go through that same process of discernment – not the dilemma but the logical trilemma; Jesus was either lying about who he was, he was crazy, or he was actually telling the truth. 

Interestingly our reading concludes with Jesus’ statement about truth:    “Pilate asked him, "So you are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice”

And here is the thing…. “For this I was born and came into the world… to testify to the truth…..”  There stood Jesus about to be crucified, saying this!   And for that truth he was crucified.  I think that logically we can easily cross off Liar.  Surely if you were lying, you’d admit it in the face of death.  I’m guessing that Pilate figured this out also, and was obviously intrigued.  And the intrigue shows that he didn’t think Jesus was crazy either, as in that case you’d not bother with such questioning, not to mention the washing of his hands incident.

So that leaves us with the truth.  Of course we have way more incidences and circumstances upon which to base our faith in Jesus, but too often people, and even we, don’t actually realize the solidity upon which our faith is based.

The truth is an interesting thing because I was once under the assumption that the truth was what people wanted most, but after asking a group of people if they’d prefer the truth or a lie that made them feel comfortable, many said they’d prefer the lie.  Personally I’d prefer the truth, no matter how devastating, because then you can begin to deal with things in a way that is real and you can push through the hard times knowing why the hard times are there.

Every athlete knows that their training is going to be painful, but they know that the hardships will enable them to compete at their best level, and so they endure. 

I believe these are the days we are in.  People are not wanting the truth and not wanting to endure any pain, but I have to tell you I believe we are only in the beginnings of the hard times to come, and the hard times world-wide will get harder.  Jesus tells us these things so that we can endure.  You need to know this and the Good News of Jesus and who he is so that you can endure it.  In fact our readings from the last few weeks have had this thread also- Ruth and Naomi went through hard times, but their hard times and them pressing on, was integral to the story of salvation.  God is good – all the time!

King David also had times of trouble, as our Psalm states; Lord remember David and his times of trouble.  Though King David had many times of trouble, he had a heart that desired to serve God and he was a favourite of God.  Was King David perfect? Certainly he was not. 

King David wanted to build a temple for God… a monument of his affection – an outward sign of his love for God.  Although a noble desire, God told him that it would be his son and not him to do this thing.  And in true prophetic style this “word from God” had layers of meaning – literally, King David’s son did build the temple – but more importantly the “son of David” that is Jesus, would establish a permanent temple.  The temple of Jesus is his body that was destroyed on the cross and raised to everlasting life – and through that temple we approach God without any obstacle to our relationship with God. 

King David is a superlative Bible character.  While he is so very fallible, he is also open and genuine about his fallibility and desire to be better.  He has a passion for Justice and keen understanding of mercy, compassion, love and forgiveness.  Maybe it came from herding sheep!!

I don’t know sheep, but I have a cat.  Cats don’t understand English.  We speak a different language, although sometimes I’m not sure, because when I ask my cat if he wants to go outside he bolts for the door without any further prompting.  Sometimes my cat sits on the table or jumps on the cupboards where he is not allowed and he looks at me blankly.  His Kitty litter stinks and he watches me with interest as I clean it out for him.   Moral to the story is that I understand he is a cat and his behaviour is going to always be that of a cat.  I guess it is the same with sheep.

As someone who cared for sheep, King David learned leadership.  He learned that he couldn’t expect more from the sheep than that which is common to sheep.  When sheep went astray, I’m guessing he learnt to forgive the sheep, as it was after all… just the nature of a sheep.

We, all like sheep, do go astray, and even King David went very astray.  He repented and God never took his love away from David.

With all that David had learnt, his last words were to declare that the spirit of the LORD speaks through him and then he speaks about what it means to rule.  One who rules justly, who is God-fearing, brings refreshment to the land -Life!

This weekend we celebrate Christ the King.  We see that our King is different from other kings, he was one who is more like a shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep.  Many who are put in positions of power grapple to understand how to be a leader.  Jesus shows us.  He has made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, and asks us to follow his example, where we may need to put our lives – our reputations & pride - on the line to testify to the truth and act in mercy. 

The truth is; Jesus is who he claimed to be – the one who is, who was and who is to come.  In the light of his dominion, though we live in days that are hard, where truth is crucified and lies are embraced, will we stand firm?  Will we allow Jesus to be the King of our life? 

Part of my own faith journey was this question – although it was put to me a little differently – Will you make Jesus the Lord of your life?  It is a commitment that needs to be made and then remembered and renewed with each new day – Yes Jesus, I want you to be the Lord, the ruler… the King of my life.

These days are like those days of Elijah who declared the word of the LORD.  Like him, we need to speak the truth and be like that life-giving King, bringing refreshing, where the dry bones become as flesh.  In the times to come, things will become more difficult. There will be great trials, famine, darkness and sword.  We are part of the kingdom of God, the labourers, we are the voice, the people of God’s kingdom who testify to the truth, and we are declaring the word of the Lord. 

The days we are in, in 2018, are days where Jesus calls us to allow him to be our King and the Lord of our lives.  Will we answer that call?

Widows, Women and others. Reflection for 11th November 2018

Widows, Women, and Others:

I often hear people say, “Oh how wonderful to have been born in the Victorian era”… or some other bygone era and they ask me what era I would like to have been born in….  My answer is this one right now with air-conditioning and flushing toilets thank you very much. 

And along with our technological advancements, of which I’m appreciative, I’m also appreciative of the rights that women have and the move towards some kind of equality.  Now don’t get me wrong, I’ve not ever been called a feminist, but I surely have cried over some inequalities and the readings today touch on some pretty sensitive topics for me.

Our readings this week speak of three widows.  Two are in the first reading, Naomi and Ruth, who lived many generations before the birth of Christ.  The third widow is the one who put her two measly coins (all that she had to live on) into the treasury.

While the plight of women today is still in a state of striving for justice, women in Biblical times were generally treated as beings of little consequence other than a necessity for child bearing, Widows were particularly susceptible to all the dangers of life.

In the time of the Scribes in the Gospel, the customs were such that the person who knew the most about God’s law was the person most respected.  This is why they were greeted with honour and give the best seats etc.  It was also considered a shameful thing to jeopardize your social status.  Therefore, the widow who put in all she had to live on, actually did a shameful thing… because she is completely jeopardizing her status & ability to care for herself. However, she was caught between a rock and a hard place because it would have also been dishonourable to not give to the temple.  And THIS is how the Scribes devoured widows’ houses, because they took from these poor women, but did nothing to support them.   

Ahhhh… but this would never happen in our generation would it?

I actually know of a lady who only about a year ago told me how in her early days of marriage, used to go without lunch at work so that she could put the money she saved into the collection at church.  I’m guessing her husband wasn’t a church man and I’m also guessing that her story is not as unique as we might wish.  That lady eventually divorced, in an era when divorce was very much a scandal – especially in the Church.  She is still one of the most giving and generous ladies I know. 

Would we have labelled her divorce as scandalous?

Have you ever been in that kind predicament like our Biblical widow, where it was a no win situation?

In education training we learnt about Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.  A smart cookie who came up with a way of describing what all humans need in the shape of a pyramid.  It explains that people need physical needs met before they can go on to have other needs met, but it is also an acknowledgement that human needs are more than merely physical.  After the basic physical need of food, water and shelter is the need for security and safety… then the need for love and belonging, after that the need for esteem, followed by the need for purpose and meaning and then self actualization.  I’m reminded of a story I’ve heard about an experiment with babies who were given the basics but not love… not held.  The experiment was cut short when the babies began to die….  While we might think that the basics are all that people need, this might cause us to think again.

While these Scribes were busy making a show of themselves with long prayers and honourable seats, there were widows who were supporting the scribes by their giving, who didn’t have their basic needs for living, and these means for living were being happily accepted by the scribes to enable them to ensure their own status.

Last week we had the story of Ruth and Naomi, and this week the story continues and I hope that with this understanding of the widows’ predicament you will appreciate the precarious position of Naomi and Ruth.

Ruth happened to be gleaning barley in the fields of one of Naomi’s husband’s relatives- the term used is “Kinsmen Redeemer”.  In God’s law there were many ways that acknowledged and cared for the poor.  One was with the idea of the Kinsmen redeemer, which means that if a man dies then his brother or closest relative should take the widow as his wife in the hope that a son will be born who will take on the name of the husband who has died – but also, most importantly, to care for the widow. 

Also in the law was this idea of gleaning the fields.  The parts of the harvest which missed the initial collection was to be left in the fields and were to remain there for the widows and the poor of the land.  Ruth had spent the season gleaning and all had gone extremely well, but the harvest was done and the winter was coming.

Naomi hatched a plan – it was dangerous, it was desperate and potentially scandalous. But let me tell you about scandal; many generations prior, the ancestor of Boaz, a lady by the name of Tamar, was almost burned to death for a similar deception where she dressed as a prostitute because her father-in-law had failed to give his son as her kinsmen Redeemer.  When all was revealed she was proclaimed as being more honourable for the action she took – likewise was to be the outcome with our Ruth.

Ruth dressed up and went in secret to the place where the men partied…. Kind of like the traditional cane cut out party, but then take it up a notch.  Lots of festivities would have included wine and possibly even prostitutes – certainly it was a man’s affair. 

Ruth noted where Boaz lay down for sleep and lay down at his feet.  Would we have labelled it scandalous?  We would have, which is why Boaz said to not let it be known that a woman came to the threshing floor.  But wait, he also praised Ruth for her faithfulness in requesting a relationship with him, rather than running after someone younger.

While outsiders may have gossiped and made this event into something scandalous, these people were faithful and honourable.  Boaz promised to communicate with the closer relative to see if he wanted to take Ruth as his wife, and if not she would certainly become Boaz’s wife.

Lives were put on the line because lives depended on it.  All was given, all was surrendered in the hope of something better.

Just as lives were put on the line, Jesus freely surrendered his own life as a sacrifice to remove sin.   It’s crazy stuff… it is dangerous – what if the people he died for didn’t receive the gift he was giving?   What if they didn’t understand and kept distant from God because of their sin?????  Oh and this does happen – anyone who has ever said that they can’t set foot in a church in case the roof falls in is expressing their “badness” in comparison to God’s goodness, and not understanding that Jesus has removed sin.  Which sin?  Was it the sin in the past or the present or the future?   Hebrews tells us that this was done once and for all.  The implication is that all is paid.

To the people who were looking on the events that we read about, on the outside these events look scandalous.  On the outside, here and now, there are many things we might think of as being scandalous about other people.  I love the saying, believe only half of what you see and none of what you hear.  We pretty much never get it right from the outside, but need to remember Ruth – labelled as faithful, kind and honourable, maybe if we understood God’s perspective on supposed scandals we might find those who are generally devoured with unkind words and whispers, are actually more honourable than we are.

We have God’s law written in our hearts and minds and we may be those with respect, but like the Scribes, if we make judgments on others, we have the potential to devour others who are just trying their best to live, giving all that they have to live on, while we make ourselves feel superior by adding to the rumours.

Jesus was most harsh with the religious of his day, but if we don’t examine ourselves applying the same measure – as we are the religious of this day, we risk making the same mistakes as those scribes.

Jesus laid down his life to remove sins.  Love covers a multitude of sin.  The love of God, and his mercy in our own lives, should move us to, like Jesus, stand beside those who’ve been judged as lesser.  God’s heart breaks for the broken and the broken hearted, for those labelled or treated as less.  

As the hands and feet of God we need to be heartbroken for them too and stand alongside. We have a choice; be a modern day scribe- who keeps the law, makes a show of being a righteous person and devour people by our judgments, or live like Jesus, putting our own life on the line to show love to others.  On the flip side, we may feel like Ruth, Naomi and the widow, we may not feel we have anything physical, emotional and spiritual left to give, but keep going –  God cares for the broken and God’s favour rests on you.