Proper 5 June 6th
2021 1 Samuel 8:4-11, (12-15), 16-20, (11:14-15) and Psalm 138 • 2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1
It may be
that I particularly relate to the reading from 2 Corinthians today, where it
says our outer nature is wasting away, due to the fact that it has been a big
week of physical, emotional and mental activity and I feel the mortality of my body most acutely,
but it seems to me that this is a good place start our reflection on the
readings.
2
Corinthians 4:16-18 say, “So we do not lose heart. Even though
our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. For this
slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory
beyond all measure, because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot
be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is
eternal.”
We naturally place emphasis on the things of this life and
the here and now, yet we believe in God, who constantly reminds us that our
earthly existence is a mere blink in comparison to eternity. It is important to deal with the here and now
and look after our outer nature – our physical body – If we neglect it – and
don’t feed it, it won’t be long till the growling of our stomach will remind us,
and demand our attention.
Our bodies, mortal and finite, demand our attention, yet we
should really, if we are prudent, be investing much more in our eternal
life. And I know that you know this,
because that is why you are here…. Investing in your eternity.
But let me, like St. Paul, encourage you; Do you realize
that though our bodies are subject to decay, our spirits are being renewed day
by day? Do you realize that there is a
part of you that isn’t growing old and, but being renewed… a part that is eternal?
Mostly, we are unaware of this eternal part of our reality,
but we, being made in the likeness of God, are also Triune. We have a body, a soul and a spirit. Every living person has a body and soul and
we often might talk about our soul being tied up with who we really are – our
personality and our emotions, but our spirit is far less familiar. The reason being that, for most, their spirit
is dormant.
Last week we read from John that none can see the kingdom
of God unless they are born of water and of the Spirit. The original translations used to refer to
this as being born again. Why? Because we are born the first time,
physically, but when we are baptised and join our lives to God, we become born
again. We are born spiritually…. That dormant part of us is brought to life by
being united to Christ.
In the more orthodox denominations, we are baptized as
infants and so, we believe, that we become children of God, with a fully formed
spirit, there and then. But this is not
quite the way it works. Indeed, we are
children of God, but I suspect it could be more accurately described to
be like those conceived, growing in the womb of our parents faith, waiting for
that moment when we truly make it our own.
Perhaps this is best explained by telling you that my own
experience was very much like this. I
was baptized as a baby and then brought up in the church. I most genuinely asked for the Holy Spirit at
my confirmation, yet it was 6 years later that I had an experience that could
most accurately be described as being born spiritually, and it came, not just
because I believed, but because I made a commitment to belong to God and to
make him the LORD, the King of my life.
At that time I gave Jesus the steering wheel for my life…. As
time went on I began to see that it was a constant struggle, as I naturally
want to be steering life myself. Like a
baby that is born can’t become unborn, I and we (who make that same decision to
belong to God), can’t become un-spiritually born either. Just because I struggle to keep God as the
King of my life, doesn’t change my spiritual reality, and the fact that God is
the King of my life.
The readings today speak also about authority. And the question for us to ultimately answer
is, is God our king, or are we pledging allegiance to another?
To set the scene, Jesus has become so popular that he
hasn’t time to eat and his family think he has lost the plot and gone mad. They only understand that the outer nature
needs feeding and fail to realize that Jesus is operating in a way that places
emphasis on the spiritual. Jesus is
performing miracles and casting out demons, but the religious people declare
that he has a demon himself and that is why he can do miracles. Jesus explains some truths and he explains
that if a house is divided it will fall.
Jesus goes on to explain in parable form, that in order to
plunder a house, one first must bind the strong man. Jesus himself accomplished this by his
sacrifice on the cross. Jesus defeated
the hold that Satan had and giving us eternal life, he took away the sting of
death. It was prophesied back in Genesis
3:15 when it speaks about the enmity between the woman and the serpent and that
her seed, indicating the Messiah, would crush his head.
The next most baffling part of our Gospel is Jesus
statement that “whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have
forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin"— If this leaves you a little anxious that you
might have inadvertently committed an unforgiveable sin, let me put your hearts
at rest immediately, as this is not something that you have done. In fact, the reason it is an unforgiveable
sin is because those who might commit it would be refusing to be forgiven. It is about those whom the Holy Spirit
convicts, yet they refuse to acknowledge.
It was a grave warning to those people who knew the scriptures and knew
the miracles and the good that Jesus was doing, but instead of rejoicing and
praising God, they declared Jesus to have an unclean spirit. In short – They called Good, evil. The Holy Spirit came to convict of sin and if
they, being convicted, refuse to come to God, refuse to acknowledge the
authority of Jesus… how can they be forgiven?
Jesus was told that his mother and brothers were there. Supposedly, they were there to take control of
Jesus who seemed to have lost the plot, in their opinion. In other words, they were there to take
authority over Jesus and tell him what he needed to do.
They were looking at things in the natural – He hadn’t
eaten. Their focus was on the finite –
the physical – the body. And they had
forgotten that Jesus whole existence was about the spirit.
Jesus responds by
declaring, “Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and
mother."
In this Jesus shows us His understanding that the physical
is one thing, but the spiritual and eternal is greater. Also, when we are born from above, we are
born of God and really and truly are Jesus family.
But what then is the will of God?
To do the will of anyone takes a pledge of allegiance to
them. A dutiful child might grow up to
do the will of their father, following him into the family business. Doing the will of his father would require
submission and surrender to the wisdom of the father and an acknowledgement
that he is the boss.
Back in the Old Testament, the Israelites cried out to
Samuel to anoint a King to rule over them.
When Samuel cried out to God about the issue, God explains that the
desire for a King is due to the rejection of having God as their King. They wanted to put their trust in a
human. They wanted a man to pledge
allegiance to. They were fully warned
about what this would mean and they decided they still wanted a man to be King. They wanted to be like the nations around
them rather than be the unique nation that they were.
Are we like this? Do
we need to have a charismatic leader to follow?
Do we want to be just like the people around us and do all that they do
rather than show that we are a people who have pledged allegiance to God? To be different from those around us can be
described as a slight and momentary affliction that prepares us for an eternal
weight in glory.
We are blessed to live in a place where our afflictions are
so slight that the subtilty of them is actually a dangerous temptation. We are not persecuted for our faith, but we
all want to belong in our community and we can easily find ourselves going from
being accepted as a Christian, to compromising on the word of God for the sake
of continuing in that belonging and enjoying social approval. There are many of these issues of compromise
in our society right now… for example, what is God’s will for us when people
talk about abortion, euthanasia and gender identity? Does God want us to remain
quiet when injustices occur?
We are the family of God if we do His will. But what is His will? John 6:40, tells us, "For this is
the will of my Father: that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him will
have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day." For
me this sermon is going in a circle because to do the will of God means we need
to firstly surrender to God. We need to
acknowledge that God is supreme and should be the Lord and king of our
lives. After this God’s will is what we
do, because we have given our life to him.
It is human nature to give our life to God, give him the
steering wheel, and then try to take it back again. Our flesh nature is at war with the will of
God, but when we spend time nurturing our spirit and encouraging that part of
us that is eternal, we walk in the spirit, give him back the control and we do
God’s will. God’s Holy Spirit is in us
and guides us. God himself helps us to
do His will. And we don’t fall out of
the family and the Kingship of God just because we occasionally get it
wrong. We are children of God and
nothing can separate us from his love. This
is the Good News.
Our challenge is to firmly make that commitment to make
Jesus the ruler, the king of our lives and choose to walk in the spirit and in his will.
