World day of Prayer 2023 Message

2023 WORLD DAY OF PRAYER

 

For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints, do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the boundless greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might

Ephesians 1:15-19 New American Standa

There is a meme that I’ve come across on social media.  It portrays a picture of cute little tweetie pie saying his prayers and he prays, “Dear Lord, so far today, am I doing all right.  I have not gossiped, lost my temper, been greedy, grumpy, nasty, selfish, or self-indulgent.  I have not whined, complained, cursed or eaten any chocolate.  I have charged nothing on my credit card…  But I will be getting out of bed in a minute, and I think that I will really need your help then.”  

When we shut ourselves off from the world it is easy to do the right thing -To be kind and even holy.  But God doesn’t want us shut off from the world.  We are called to be a part of a community and we are to be a blessing to the world, to be the hands feet and heart of God in flesh, making a difference in our communities.   

 

Saint Paul thanks God for a group of people, the Ephesians, because he has heard of their faith in God and the love they have for the saints.  This tells us that these people put their faith into action.  The saints, refers to other Christians, and we need to explore this a little further, because those “saints” are you and I, and the people in our church family.

 

Ephesus was a center of travel and commerce. Situated on the Aegean Sea at the mouth of the Cayster River, the city was one of the greatest seaports of the ancient world.   The Christian Ephesian Church was made up of people of various ethnicities, and here we see similarities between the Ephesian Church, the Church of Taiwan and our own local Church. 

 

These Ephesian saints were no more perfect than you and I, and no easier to love than those in our faith communities.  Yet this group of Ephesians, at that time, had a reputation for their faith and their love for others- and in particular, other saints – meaning, those in the Christian church.  What do you imagine this would look like in our own community of faith?  In the least, I imagine that there would be prayer support for the concerns of each other.  There would be practical support for those going through crisis, and there would be many strong friendships, such that the church was more like a family.  I also imagine that there would be occasions like this… of coming together to share faith and learn about each other in our broader Christian context.

 

The group of saints, loved and supported by the Ephesian Christian church, included those who were local and those like Saint Paul who travelled bringing the word of God with clarity and encouragement.

 

This is the way we are meant to be as church.  We are meant to be a people of genuine faith in God, and we prove that faith by our active love for those in our community and those who belong to our Christian family but live far away.  We are ALL the body of Christ and if one part is hurting, all the other members of the body ought to be aware and compensating.  I play sport and often experience injury or aches and pains… if my right leg is in pain, my left will bare more of the load of my body weight, my back will be affected and my whole being groans.  All of me is involved in compensating for that injury, or weakness.

 

The body of Christ in Taiwan, like the Ephesians, is also a group of various ethnicities and with strengths and weaknesses and areas of pain.   Through our World Day of Prayer, we become aware and connected.  Their needs should naturally move us to action, and to prayer.  We also give thanks for their faith and love, which exists in their diversity.

 

While it seemed like the Ephesian Church had everything going for them, Saint Paul adds a very important element to his prayer.  Along with his prayer for them to have wisdom, he prays that the eyese of their heart may be enlightened, so that they would know what is the hope of God’s calling, and the riches of the glory of God’s inheritance in the saints.   

 

The hope of our calling, the riches of the glory of God’s inheritance in the saints, and the boundless greatness of God’s power towards us who believe….  It is in knowing and understanding these that we do not become exhausted or discouraged in our Christian walk.  Knowing the hope we have in God, is what continues to give us strength and renew us.  Understanding that our community, the faith family, are richly the glory of God, enables us to be gracious with each other and truly love in the way that God desires.

 

Many years ago, I read a book by M. Scott Peck.  It talked about stages of community and the first stage is pseudo community.  This may possibly have been where the Ephesians were at when Saint Paul wrote his letter, commending their faith and love.  When our community is new and we are bonded by some commonality, there can often be an almost euphoric sense of love, acceptance and belonging.  The following stages in community are; chaos, emptiness and then TRUE community.  It seems that if a community can hang in through all that, they will then reap the rewards of a true community.

 

Too often, we give up.  Things are not going well and we “Jump Ship”.  This is because we don’t understand the hope of our calling and the riches of the glory in God’s inheritance in each other.  How can true community happen?

 

Saint Paul understood that he was developing a community with an eternal and divine consequence, and for this community to continue in their faith and love they needed to have a depth in their understanding.  They needed to have a revelation of their place in Christ – a surety of who they are to God, and how each other is a precious treasure in the eyes of God, in order to continue to grow as a loving, faith-filled community. 

 

Saint Paul says it this way; “That you will know what is the hope of His calling.”  That sounds quite straightforward, but what IS the hope of God’s calling?  Ultimately, we expect that we will one day get to be in heaven, but if we think that is the only purpose of our faith, we are severely disabling our church.  There is much more to the hope of God’s calling.  Saint Paul is referring to the hope we have as part of God’s plan for this earth.

 

Every now and then I meet people that say, they can’t wait until Jesus comes again - and often, these people seem to be wonderful, but disconnected people who go to church, but they are just waiting for Heaven.  They are much like Tweety-pie before he gets out of bed… Their hope is that one day we will leave this existence and find a better one in heaven.  If heaven was all that God intended for us, then as soon as we become Christians, he could just take us out… but that isn’t what he does and it isn’t His plan.

 

We are called by, and we are, the children of God.  As children of the king, we are part of the family business.  God is in the business of unconditional love, and lavishing that sacrificial love on people who, probably like us, don’t deserve it… and he brings us into his Kingdom. God’s desire is for us to grow in his likeness, to grow in his love and to grow in having a mindset that is also about growing his Kingdom.  We have an inheritance that is part of the LORDs prayer… Thy Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.

 

We pray this prayer so often, but do we realize or understand that God’s Kingdom comes on earth somewhat through us?  And do we realize that this Kingdom of God is constantly knocking on the door of our Earth, wanting to be a reality… and it can and is a reality, when we surrender to God and cooperate with God’s plan for us.

 

The hope of God’s calling is a hope to be transformed into who God originally intended us to be and a hope for our world to be transformed into His Kingdom.   It is a moment-by-moment reality, as we interact with each other in ways governed by God’s ways.  We recognise God’s Kingdom when we have a correct vision of life, as given to us by God.   It is a Kingdom where love and mercy rule.

 

We are called, as children of God, to aim for living in the reality of the Kingdom of God.  In our own strength and power, it is beyond us but see, God is the author and perfector of our faith… not us. Therefore we rest assured in the knowledge that God is working in us, and we are becoming the community he wants us to be, so long as we remain surrendered to him and connected to him, constantly being renewed by his Spirit and his word.

 

It truly is like the Tweety pie meme…  I can be good while I’m asleep or cut off from temptation, but after that we need divine help.  Don’t despair!  We have that help.  We live in the freedom of knowing that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ.  And being aware of our forgiveness we live with grace toward one another.  This truly is the hope we have.  It isn’t just hope in an afterlife, but hope in this life here and now, that encounters and moments here and now, can be and will be infused with the Spirit of God. 

 

In the year 2023, we need our eyes enlightened to know and to see the hope of God.  The world desperately needs this hope, and the world needs the Kingdom of God where the wisdom, love and grace of God is more than merely proclaimed… but where it is truly lived and experienced.  It comes through us when we surrender to the Kingship of our God and father.  May we surrender to our God our king, in joyful knowledge of the hope we share, as we continue to grow in faith and love and may His Kingdom come on Earth as it is in Heaven.

Transformers - reflection for 19th Feb 2023

               TRANSFIGURATION SUNDAY  Year A  February 19, 2023

Exodus 24:12-18  •  Psalm 2 or Psalm 99  •  2 Peter 1:16-21  •  Matthew 17:1-9

 

Today we are celebrating Transfiguration Sunday.  We all know the story… Jesus took a couple of his close followers up on the mountain and they, literally, had a mountain top experience of God.  But why?  Why did it happen that way and why is it something we need to know about?

 

Our scripture Journey begins with Moses.  The LORD called Moses to come up the mountain and receive instructions.  Those instructions are what we know as the Law of God – The Ten Commandments.

 

You may have noticed that there are themes running though the Sunday readings that continue through for a number of weeks and there has recently been a theme of Light…   This theme of light we find in today’s readings also, but there has been another theme present in the last few weeks, which is still present in today’s readings also…. A theme of God’s Law.  

 

Mostly, we as the forgiven, redeemed and sanctified people of God, overlook this aspect… and we focus predominantly on the Light of Christ, who achieved salvation for us.

 

The theme of God’s Law is not actually secondary.  I liken God’s Law as being like the law of gravity is for those aeroplanes using the law of aerodynamics.   We all fly in aeroplanes, grateful for the speed at which we can cover long distances.  At the same time, we never forget or belittle the law of gravity, but instead we have a healthy respect for it, as do all those who utilize the law of aerodynamics.  

Similarly, we live in the joyful and grateful reality of God’s grace – which I liken to that law of aerodynamics.  We can fly, but we must always be aware that gravity exists… God’s divine and perfect law is a constant, unchangeable law.  God’s law explains the nature of and perfection of God.  The law of God was officially given through Moses.

 

Who was Moses?  He was a mere human.  He was a condemned Israelite baby, dramatically rescued from assured death by being hidden in a basket on the river.  He was rescued by the daughter of Pharaoh, teaching us that God is happy to use the good of outsiders to achieve his plan.   Moses was brought up as an Egyptian Prince.  As a young adult he wrestled with his true identity as an Israelite.  He became confused about who he was and where he belonged and he ran out into the desert.  There, after a time of rest, he encountered God in the burning bush and this led to him returning as a leader of God’s people, who were about to be rescued and called out of Egypt and out of slavery.  These people would all be called into the desert to discover their true identity.

 

Forty days or forty years….  Surely it is no coincidence that the number 40 is repeated many times in the Bible.  Forty is the number for testing, trial, probation and preparation.  But note that before Moses spent forty days and nights up on the mountain, he spent 6 days waiting for God to call him.  After 6 days of the cloud, the glory of God, covering the mountain, God called Moses to come up and receive the law of God.  Guess who else was called after 6 days?

 

Our Gospel reading begins, “Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves.”  This is written in the Gospel of Matthew who was writing for the Jewish people, who would have been familiar with the scriptures and, who would’ve understand that there was something profound being indicated by this little preface about 6 days.

 

The Sixth day was the day that God made mankind.  Six is man’s number, the completion of creation, and we read that after the sixth day waiting for God on the Mountain, Moses was called into the presence of God to receive the law.  The past was completed and the nation was to be called into the “rest”… the Blessing.  For the nation of Israel, who been enslaved and governed by Egypt for so long, this also indicated their new identity as their own nation.  Their time with Egypt was completed… they would receive their own code…. Their own way of being a nation… their own religion… their own God.

 

Of course, we need to note that Israel had already been called by God to be his own chosen nation, but the people, so long in the land of the Egyptians, were having an identity crisis.  Yes, they always knew that they were Israelites, God’s favoured nation, but beyond that, they didn’t understand.   Some of the way of thinking of the Egyptians had infected the Israelites, just as our culture has a way of infecting all of us.  To be influenced and changed by our culture isn’t always a bad thing, depending on what that culture is and what are the influences.  In Egypt, Israel had become somewhat confused by worshiping other gods and had developed many practises that were somewhat depraved, and we get a hint of what these were by noting some of the practises that Moses explicitly condemned, recorded in the book of Leviticus.

 

I am sure that it was not lost on the original readers of Matthew’s Gospel that it was after 6 days that Jesus called Peter, James and John up the Mountain.  This is significant.  Moses went up after 6 days and he received the sacred Law.  What was it that Peter, James and John received?

 

Moses after 6 days entered into the cloud of the glory of God.  Check out what is said to Peter, James and John;  “…. suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, "This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!"

 

Moses received the Law on tablets of stone.  Peter, James and John received Jesus.  Jesus is that tablet upon which the law is written.  Jesus did not come to abolish the law and the prophets – but to fulfil it.  The law and the prophets, is represented on the Mountain by Moses and Elijah.  Jesus is the ultimate law and the ultimate prophet.  The connection with the first giving of the law on tablets of stone and the story of Jesus on this mountain was a definite message to those early Jewish Christians, who understood their history of the giving of the Law.

In our Letter from Saint Peter, he refers to and explains this very event and he begins by stating; “For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty.” 

 

The issue Saint Peter is dealing with, is the divinity of Jesus.  Our faith is part history.  A person called Jesus, known as the Christ existed and was recorded historically as performing great deeds.  Many people believe this much…. Or at least they should because it isn’t a matter of faith, but a fact.  However, the nature of Christ, his divinity and all that encompasses, is a matter of faith.

 

If you were on that Mountain and witnessed Jesus transformed, would it still be a matter of faith?  What if you could hear about it from an eye witness?  In fact, there were three eye witnesses.

 

You see, we, and those early Jewish Christians, for whom Peter was writing, are much like the Israelites were at the time that God called Moses up the Mountain.  We know that God loves us and that Jesus died for our sins.  We’ve been told that Jesus rose from the dead, but my question for us to ponder is this; has it impacted our identity?  Are we walking in this new reality?

 

All that Jesus is- His divine nature, and His being the embodiment of the sacred Law of God, … and then our being united to Christ through our baptism, is meant to impact our identity.  We too need to be transformed.

 

The celebration of God giving the law is celebrated by the Jewish people, fifty days after the second Passover… they call it Shavuot, also known as the feast of the Harvest – It is also known more commonly to us as Pentecost….  The timing for God sending his Holy Spirit was no coincidence.

 

By God’s Holy Spirit, Jesus, who is the embodiment of the Law, is given to be with us always.  We have a union with the sacred law, because we have Jesus with us always.  We should not take God’s name in vain, we should not worship other Gods… we should love our neighbour…. We should… but in our own strength, our natural being, we can’t – but we have God, the Holy Spirit in us who can – He is our teacher, guide and comforter that will never leave, nor forsake us, who, if we are deliberately willing, can do all this in and through us.

 

We think we are mere mortals, and we are often dismayed and disheartened by our weak humanity, but we are the chosen people of God.  We are Chosen to have Christ’s SHINE HIS LIGHT through us.  Peter was impetuous.  John and James were known as the sons of thunder.  Moses was a stutterer, confused and dismayed by his failure, he ran away.  God chose these people.  He loves to choose those the world might consider disqualified.  But these people were all transformed by their relationship with God.  

 

God desires for us to have this kind of relationship with him… not just encounter him.   He is with us.  He is in us… He is Jesus the Law keeper… He is the Holy Spirit – the Power of God.  So… who are we?  Not actually mere mortals, but through our baptism we are changed.  We have a new identity and we are now the children of the living God.  We are called to be transformed.

 Deuteronomy 10:12-22   •  Psalm 119:1-8  •  1 Corinthians 3:1-9  •  Matthew 5:21-37

 

Ahhh  Matthew 5: 21 to 37 – The great equalizer!  I’m a big fan of this particular reading, as it makes it abundantly clear that every single one of us miss the mark.  None of us are perfectly good.  Not only that, but this reading makes it very clear that, in God’s eyes, all sin is sin and the degrees of badness only exist in our desire to justify ourselves.

 

Don’t be disheartened, I only love this passage because I understand the incredibly Good News about the Salvation of Christ, but I do believe that to fully appreciate that Good News, we first need the bad news.

 

So, let’s begin by understanding the bad news of sin.  Sin is a term used in archery, to describe missing the target.  Any thing at all that misses the target is SIN… whether you miss by an inch or a mile.  Imagine I have a paper chain and on each link is written a sin.  Some are big sins and some are small.  That chain represents the Law of God.  Now, if I were to break a single link on that chain, it wouldn’t matter if it was a small sin or big… the chain is still broken.

 

We are all God’s children.  He loves us all, but we all fall short of God’s glory.

 

In our first reading we note that God asked His people to love him with all their heart and soul, and to keep his commands.  The reason is not because God needed this, but because we need this.  In living this way, we are doing what is best for a wholesome and happy community.

 

In fact, the Law of God, can be thought of as our Christian code of conduct.  Pretty much every organisation has a code of conduct.  The code of conduct is put in place to ensure the good of all people and to create a positive work and community environment. 

Most organisations have a session of training on code of conduct every year… certainly our government education department does, and I have to tell you, the bar is set very high by that secular organisation.  On Monday night I ran a session on code of conduct with our Street Chaplains and we looked at one sentence; Street Chaplains are to act ethically and responsibly.  We teased out what it might look like to act ethically and responsibly, because each of us might have a different picture in our mind.  It is because we all see things differently that organisations know that they need to spell out what is expected in their code of conduct. 

 

Our Gospel reading is a code of conduct.  Jesus says that he knows we all understand that murder is breaking the code of conduct, but he goes on to explain, so it is also breaking the code of conduct, to be getting angry with someone.  Now, lets be realistic, we all get angry and even Jesus got angry when he cleared the temple.  To be angry isn’t sin, So, what is going on here?  The passage goes on to talk about insulting and calling someone a fool…. And these are just two examples given.

 

Why is it a sin to insult someone or call them a fool?  Surely it is true that sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me.  Ahh… but they do hurt, and they cause a deeper hurt sometimes than a physical broken bone.  There’s a meme on social media that says, if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will spend it’s whole life thinking it is stupid.  In other words, we take on the put downs of others and our lives become handicapped by our false beliefs about ourselves because of what others have told us.

 

Also, consider this; that person you have insulted or called a fool has been created by God, is a child of God, and made in the image of God.  So, who are you really insulting and calling a fool?  Maybe God himself.

 

This code of conduct goes on to talk about how we all know that adultery is a sin, but Jesus expands this to say that even looking lustfully is also a sin.  The standard for God’s code of conduct is exceptionally high.  And we all miss the mark…. And yet, through Jesus Christ we are accepted, forgiven and so very loved by God.

 

Saint Paul addresses the Corinthians by stating that they are not ready for spiritual meat and are still needing to be treated like spiritual babies because there is quarrelling among them.  He says that they are still of the flesh, and behaving according to human inclinations.  These were Christians who had received the message of the cross and accepted Jesus and they were filled with the Holy Spirit and yet they were stunted in their spiritual growth because they were walking in the flesh and not in the spirit.  Note that as Christians we are meant to be walking in the Spirit…. We probably need to learn what that really means so that we can actually do it.

 

These Corinthians understood something that we need to understand firstly and foremost, and that is that Jesus came and allowed himself to be crucified because in doing so, he was being emersed into the sins of the world and making atonement for that sin.  The consequence of Jesus’s death on the cross is that we need not experience any separation from God the father.  Jesus cried out on the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me”, experiencing the separation from God that should be ours…. But no longer is, because that debt has been satisfied.  The Corinthians knew the Good News of Jesus Christ and they were a Christian people, but they misunderstood that though they were forgiven, they still needed to grow in allowing the grace of God and his Holy Spirit to change their behaviour.

 

In my little story that I tell at Baptisms, I talk about how the Holy Spirit is that Magical God part inside of us that helps us to grow to be more like Jesus.  Just like we might physically grow to have Aunty Barbara’s curly hair and Grandpa Jim’s bad temper, due to our physical genes, we, as the children of God, should be growing in the characteristics of our heavenly father because his spirit is alive and living in us.

 

In fact, in baptism, the Bible talks about us being “clothed” in Christ.  God the father accepts us as his perfect son.  It isn’t that God is blind… he understands completely, who we are and all our weaknesses… in fact, it is because of this that God the Son came for us… because of his great love for us.  This is the Good News!

 

How does it make you feel to know that you are a child of God?  The God who created the heavens and the earth chose and purposely created you.  God chose to love us and he gave us a code to live by so that we could live in peace and harmony and become a thriving community that reflects his life and goodness.  We all have failed in some part of the call and will probably continue to fail at times, but God knows we can’t keep this code of conduct in our own strength… that is why he sent the Holy Spirit – God to be with us and in us.

 

It is only God in us and through us that can enable us to change.  The Gospel tells us that we are to be reconciled.  If we have something against another, we are to leave our gift at the altar and go and be reconciled.  This means, part of our offering to God is the willingness to be reconciled.  It is SO not as easy to do as it is to say!  And we need God’s help to do this.

 

Last week’s readings told us that the fast that is acceptable to God is to break the chains of the oppressed and untie the thong of the yoke for those who are burdened… to feed the hungry and not to turn away from your kin.  Interesting… sometimes our kin… our family can be the most difficult to deal with… there can be hurt there that runs deep. 

 

Being completely loving does not mean letting others walk all over you and being reconciled is a two way street.  Notice however, the Gospel words; “if your brother or sister holds something against you”…. In other words, you know that you have hurt them.  You might think that you meant no harm and their response is their own problem – it is not!  Jesus says to leave your gift at the altar and go be reconciled.

 

We are saved by grace.  We are given the gift of God’s love.  We who fail God’s code… who fail to keep his law…  He has forgiven us, made restitution for us, loved and accepted us.  Surely in response to such a great sacrifice, the least we can do is forgive each other and strive to live according to God’s code.  We need to continue to be patient with each other because life is messy and complicated.  In our own strength we can not keep God’s code.  We need to walk in the Spirit.

 

Looking at our society, it is clear that we need God’s code of conduct.  We learnt last week that we are the salt of the earth….  We are meant to be that good and life preserving influence in our community.  To be light and salt to the earth we need a radical change in ourselves and we need to grow in God’s spirit.

 

God never forces change on us… or anything.  He gave us free will.  When we willingly allow his Holy Spirit to work in our life, purposefully remaining connected to God so that we can do God’s will, we will grow to reflect the nature and love of God.  We will impact our society and we will grow – not just personally, but as a church.  Our first reading explains that only 70 people went down to Egypt, but then the people became as numerous as the stars in the sky. 

 

We need this growth and our church needs this growth.  Let’s willingly allow God’s Holy Spirit to flow through us and take the first step into change by praying right now….. Lord God, Here I am… willing to walk according to your Holy Spirit… teach me how to walk in the Spirit, so that your will be done on earth as it is in heaven, where love and mercy reign.

 

 

You are the light of the world. Epiphany 5A Feb 5 2023

EPIPHANY  5  Year A    February 5, 2023

Isaiah 58:1-9a (9b-12)  •  Psalm 112:1-9 (10)  •  1 Corinthians 2:1-12 (13-16)  •  Matthew 5:13-20

 

Ever heard anyone say, “do you want the good news or the bad news first”?  Generally, they have in mind which one they want to tell you first for maximum impact.  Sometimes, you need to know the bad news before you can understand the Good News.  But sometimes we just can’t see the forest for the trees.

 

I feel that our readings this week are a little like this.  There is the amazing Good News, but there are many warnings which can tend to mask the Good News… much like not being able to see the forest for the trees.

 

Firstly, there is a warning in our first reading from Isaiah.  It’s a bit of a sad story… so here comes the bad news.  The people had been going about doing their religious duty.  They had been praying and fasting and imploring of God, but it seemed as if he was not answering.  It is a frighteningly familiar and relatable story.  We’ve all been there, imploring for God’s intervention and wanting to hear God’s voice, but all we hear are crickets and silence.

 

However, Isaiah, the prophet hears from God and has a message. God acknowledges that the people seek him, day in and day out and they delight to know his ways, as if they were a nation that practiced righteousness.  These people did indeed fast and humble themselves, even bowing their head and lying in sackcloth and ashes.

 

What could God possibly have against them?

 

God says, “Look, you serve your own interest on your fast day and oppress all your workers.”

 

It’s as simple as that.  And as difficult.  It is much easier to fast and pray, than to actually go out and care for others unselfishly.

 

I love it when God cuts through the traditions of man… and throughout the Bible he does this over and over and still the people went back to getting it wrong.

God asks, “Is such the fast that I choose, a day to humble oneself? Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush, and to lie in sackcloth and ashes? Will you call this a fast, a day acceptable to the LORD?”

 

In the day of Isaiah there were important traditions.  These traditions helped to tell the story of God’s grace and goodness to his chosen people.  Most of it was God ordered through Moses…. Yet somehow the people misunderstood the purpose of those traditions.  Those traditions became a comfort, assuring them that they were God’s chosen people, and they became arrogant in their comfort and forgot that God called them over and over to attend to love.  To actively be instruments of God’s love in their society.  In fact, all the commandments could be summed up in two; love God and love others.

 

We too have traditions that help us tell the story of God’s grace and goodness to us, his chosen people.  We too can feel safe and secure in the love of God… we are constantly reminded of God’s love through our traditional actions.  But, if this message from Isaiah doesn’t cause us to reflect on all we do – and perhaps more importantly, on all we don’t do, then we are also not seeing the forest for the trees…  we also, are missing the point…

 

Our Gospel reading reports Jesus as saying that, unless our righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, we will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

 

Wow! This sounds daunting to say the least.  Add to that, that Jesus said he did not come to abolish the law and the prophets, but to fulfil them!  I don’t know about you but I’m pretty sure my righteousness isn’t that shiny and whole.  But Jesus also says, “For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished.”

 

The law of God needs to be accomplished.  It is actually a law of love.  One thing that we always think is different between Old Testament preaching and New Testament preaching is the emphasis on God’s Grace and love as opposed to the law, but this is not the reality.  The difference between the Old Testament and the New is the Revelation of God’s plan.  God was always about grace and love. 

 

I suspect that our eyes can be just as veiled now as anyone’s ever was… we don’t see the forest for the trees.  That little sentence of Jesus, “Not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished” reminds me of another very short sentence of Jesus on the cross.  “It is finished”. 

 

In the Gospels Jesus often explains God’s standard, and that standard is high.  None of us can be as righteous as we need to be.  That is the bad news.  We want to be, we try to be, we strive to be… but we fail.   Righteousness is about having God’s love and lavishing that love on those around us, caring for the poor, the sad, the misunderstood and the unlovely.

 

Now that we understand what God requires, let me tell you the incredibly good news; it is about how we get this love of God, full inside of us to be able to share it with others. 

 

We actually all have it.  We might not be letting it flow however.

 

When Jesus said, “It is finished” Jesus accomplished a righteousness for all of us.  Jesus accomplished the law.  Jesus did this for us, knowing that none of us were perfect – none of us could accomplish it.

 

We are called to accept Jesus.  To accept his sacrifice – his body, and to accept his life – his blood.  We are baptised into Jesus and his life is united to ours.  Our righteousness is not our own, but it is the righteousness of Jesus living in us by his Holy Spirit.  And how we allow that love of God to flow through us, is by understanding that Jesus is there, desiring to work through us.  We are the body of Christ --We say this every service.  The life and love of God is in us, we simply need to be aware of it and allow it to flow, by saying, “Jesus, let your love flow through me this day.”

 

In just a couple of weeks we will be in the season of Lent.  It is a season of fasting.  There are many I know who have already begun a fast for the start of the year…. They figure that it is a way to start their year off on the right foot, and get their lives lined up with God.  While there are different kinds of fasting, from mild to extreme, those that I knew to be fasting, gave up meat, sweets and then each time they felt like having these things, they turned to prayer.  They found it beneficial.  They were able to focus more of their time on their relationship with God.

 

However, I do feel that many times when we fast, we only understand half of what God is calling us to do.  Listen to what the prophet Isaiah says as he reports God’s words to him; “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?”

 

We can not go forward until we examine this challenge.  Is there injustice anywhere?  Unfortunately, burdens and injustice are plentiful.

 

An injustice that concerns me; is that we have many young people who are confused, hurting and experiencing serious depression. 

 

Two major aspects of modern life that are causing problems for our young people is sexual orientation and depression over climate change.  There are a number of youth who don’t see any point in studying, working or being, what was traditionally thought of, as a productive part of society because they believe they will die young due to climate change. 

 

I’m no expert.  I don’t know the scientific facts, but these young people are experiencing an injustice.  It is an unfair burden that has been cast upon them, such that they feel that their future is hopeless.  We, however, are a people of hope.  Our lives are safe in Christ and we have a promise about this in the end of our Isaiah reading, if we get involved in justice and walk according to God’s ways, then he says that we shall raise up the foundations of many generations; we shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to live in.  I don’t know what the answer to all our problems are, but I do believe in God and He promises us a hope and a future… In him there is an answer, but we have a part to play, and it is in actively loosing the chains of injustice.

 

I passionately believe it is an injustice that our young people are encouraged to question and even reject their own gender identity.  there is currently a Bill that allows children over 16 to apply to alter their record of sex without the consent of a parent and children as young as 12 to “apply to alter the record of sex of the child if the child has obtained an order from the children’s court.”   Parents are told to be financially responsible for their children, but are not allowed any say…. Sometimes are not even told what is going on.  This is an injustice.  Our children and their parents are suffering.  This is not causing freedom and equality; it is causing confusion, grief, loss and a world of pain.  We, as God’s people – the body of Christ, do have a solution – It is found in Psalm 139.  God knew us before we were born and formed us while we were in our mother’s womb.  We are created who we are, purposely, and with great love, by God himself.

 

We need to pray and ask God where he wants us to be involved, because this is the fast that he desires…. to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke

 

There is a story I read on Facebook that illustrates our usual response to many of today’s issues.  It is about a mouse who saw the farmer come home from Market with a mouse trap.  Alarmed he went to warn the others.  The chicken said it was not her concern.  The lamb said he would remember the mouse in his prayers.  The cow refused to get involved.   In the middle of the night there was a ruckus… a snake was caught in the trap by the tail.  In the dark, the woman, expecting a mouse and not a snake, was bitten by the poisonous creature.  She was rushed to hospital and when she returned, still ill, the farmer made her some chicken soup.  Unfortunately the woman did not recover… she died, and at the wake the farmer put on a roast …. Roast lamb.  The expense was such that the cow needed to be sold to the slaughter house to cover costs.  Moral to the story; Just because an issue isn’t affecting you now, be warned it may devastatingly affect you later.

 

Jesus says we are the salt of the earth, but if the salt loses its saltiness, it is good for nothing. 

 

We belong to Christ and he lives his life through us if we allow him.  Our will is like the electrical wiring conducting the light, and if we are willing, his light will shine through us.  We have the righteousness of God dwelling in us…  Don’t quench the spirit, but let it flow and then know this about your identity – Jesus says that you ARE the light of the world.  You were born to be a blessing to our society – you are salt and you are light, born for such a time as this.  Rise up church and shine.