The Chosen? Proper 11A Pentecost 8A 23rd July 2023

 

Genesis 28:10-19a and Psalm 139:1-12, 23-24    •  Romans 8:12-25  •  Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

 

Do you sometimes watch the news and feel overwhelmed by the wickedness in the world?  In our Gospel reading today, Jesus tells us that there will be a day when all that wickedness will be dealt with.  Saint Paul, refers to this when he says that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory which will be revealed to us in that day.  The good times are coming….

 

This world surely is like a field of both wheat and weeds.  There is no doubt that evil is among us, and we naturally want it gone, but to tear out the weeds at the wrong time could well damage the good plants, and most importantly, sometimes it is pretty hard to know the difference between a good plant and a weed.  I have been part of more than one organisation where I witnessed someone lament that, “If only we could get rid of the bad ones.”  The most strikingly memorable of these recollections was when that comment was made by the person that many others considered to be THE biggest trouble maker! 

 

Some would say, a weed is simply a plant in the wrong place.  One thing for certain, if God is merciful to the weeds – allowing them to grow.  Then we, who can’t tell a weed from a plant, certainly need to have God’s grace and mercy with all.

 

The Gospel reading today is quite a tough one as it quite clearly says that the weeds will be thrown into the furnace.  The explanation being that the causes of evil and those who do evil will be thrown into the furnace of fire. But as I’ve already said, we don’t know the difference between a plant and a weed and thankfully, and most importantly, the weeding isn’t our job.  We need to keep this in mind always.  And our Old Testament sheds some light on how, what, or who might appear to be a weed, could well be the very anointed and chosen of God.

 

Jacob, in our reading today, felt that he was in danger.  He ran away with the blessing that he’d received from his father by deception, and he was in fear of his brother Esau, from whom he stole the blessing.  Esau had decided that he would wait until after the mourning period for their father, and then he would kill Jacob.  However, their mother, Rebekah had overheard his intentions and organised for Jacob to be sent away to find an appropriate wife- a relative of hers, from her home town –  a wife with the values like herself and Isaac, and someone who shared their heritage of faith in God.

 

Jacob sets off and comes to a town.  Commentaries suggest that the gates are closed and so Jacob sleeps, probably, just outside the wall.  Although vulnerable, the stone that he lay on was probably one from the wall, and quite a usual way to sleep if one arrived too late to enter the city.

 

This is the setting for the famous dream of Jacob.  In this dream there is a ladder set up upon the earth, and the top, reaching to Heaven.  On this ladder Angels are ascending and descending.   It is somewhat mysterious, but this ladder is a connection between heaven and earth…. What could it signify?

 

We are told that the LORD stood beside Jacob and told him some amazing things.  Firstly, God identifies himself.  This is because the peoples of the towns where Jacob lived all worshiped other gods- Baal, Ra, Molech… and others.  So, God makes it clear when he says "I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac”. 

 

The text should have LORD written in capitals, as it is actually the personal name for God that was revealed to Jacob, - this is the name YAWEH.  The covenant that was made to Abraham was confirmed and reestablished in this dream, with Jacob.

God promised that the land on which Jacob is lying, would be given to him and to his offspring; and his offspring shall be like the dust of the earth; - The other important aspect, is that God tells him, “All the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring.   Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you."  The families of the earth are blessed by the offspring of Jacob.  A quick google search will show you the many things we use today that were invented by Jewish people – But most importantly, the whole world is blessed and saved by the offspring of Jacob, many generations later in the birth, life, death & resurrection of Jesus Christ.

 

This covenant is made to Jacob, not because of anything Jacob had done.  At this point Jacob had done nothing but deceive and manipulate.  A very humbling reality when we consider those people in our own lives who we feel have hurt us due to their deception and / or manipulation. 

 

Jacob immediately wakes up and is afraid.  He assumes that this land is a sacred place, the house of God and gateway to Heaven.  Jacob’s understanding is limited, and in this statement, we realize how little Jacob understands about the nature of God. (And God still chooses him).

 

It is certain that from that moment on, Jacob’s faith began to grow.  Let’s imagine we are Jacob.  We know this isn’t a normal dream.  We wake up knowing beyond any shadow of a doubt that the very real God has visited us.  How do we respond?

 

Every interaction we have with God teaches us, but sometimes it takes a while for us to understand.  Jacob was chosen.  Not because of anything that he had done.  He was not a holy or virtuous man, but God chose him and loved him.  It is through Jacob that God would bring his plan of salvation in to existence and only God knows why – To this day – we can’t give a reason for God’s choice, yet we can rejoice in it, because if there is such hope and blessing for Jacob, it shows us that there is hope for all of us.

 

There is a significance in the vision of the ladder.  It is suggested that the ladder is an image signifying Jesus Christ, who connects us to God and Heaven, and in the Gospel of John 1:51, we read Jesus own words, “Truly, truly, I tell you, you will all see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

 

Jacob didn’t understand the nature of God and assumed that God was in some way physically tied to that land, which Jacob renamed, Bethel – meaning House of God.  Certainly, God promised to give that land to Jacob’s descendants, and to bring Jacob back to it.  However, I find it interesting that Jacob didn’t realize the omnipresence of God.  That is, that God, being God and beyond our human limitations, can be everywhere at once.  Jacob declared, “Surely God was in this place and I didn’t know it.”  Are there places we go unaware of God’s presence?  How would it change us to be aware of God’s presence everywhere we go?

 

I was in a conversation a few days ago, commenting how the notion that God knows our inner most thoughts, could be quite frightening for some people, where as for those of us who’ve been brought up with this understanding it is a given, and even a comfort.  It is comfort to know that our deepest desires, fears and sadness, are all understood perfectly.  Someone actually “gets us”…. And what’s more… that someone doesn’t reject us for that inner thing about ourselves that we might hate.

 

We all have struggles that are known only to ourselves.  There are so many people who hide those inner struggles, or at least the magnitude of them, feeling totally lacking in worth because of them.  We can be told that God loves us and know that He does, but it can be hard to believe or accept.

 

Jacob, must have known this feeling well.  Can you imagine it?  His very name signified that he was a deceiver.  From the time of his birth and his whole life he had worn the image, of who those closest to him had decided he was – He was the deceptive one.  And then he proved it was true in his actions.  Do you think that Jacob had high self-esteem?  His whole life he’d known he was lacking in good character.  Why, oh why would God choose him?  There is only one answer – So that you and I would know that God has also chosen us.

 

Our psalm this week is so significant.  “O LORD, you have searched me and known me.”  This is the psalm that tells us that God knew us before we were born and God deliberately formed us.  He knows all that we do and all our thoughts.  He knows our words, even before we speak them, and we can not flee from His presence because He is everywhere – we are never away from him or his love.

 

In our own lives we have traits within us that are like the weeds.. and we also have traits that are the wheat.  We have good qualities and we have plenty of other stuff too.  Our wonderful character, Jacob, who we are focusing on so much, was called to be the father of the twelve tribes of Israel.  God changed Jacob’s name to Israel.  The “weeds” were prevalent in the life of Jacob – and both weeds and wheat are a reality in our own lives.  Thankfully we know that we have the love of God through the gift of Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross.  Rather than our failures, it is the righteousness or goodness of Jesus that God sees in us.

 

 

 Our Gospel reading speaks about a time Jesus called “the end of the age”.  Every service we proclaim the acclamation of faith – Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.  The end of the age is when Christ will come again.  There are many things said in the Bible about this, but it is shrouded in mystery and explained in images and visions.  What we do know, is that “The end of the age” will be a time when Christ will sort things out.  It is a time for which even our earth and all creation waits.  The letter to Romans explains to us that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.  And also, that we wait for the redemption of our bodies.  

 

We don’t know what God has in store for us in the future.  As was for Jacob, so to for us; Jacob didn’t know what he would go through, and it certainly wasn’t plain sailing, but it was for the purpose of a glorious inheritance.   God has promised us a glorious inheritance also.   Our mortal existence is not the end.  And after this existence is not just some cloud floating.  God has a definite plan for the future.  Our creator loves us, sent His son to redeem us, and there is a glorious future planned. 

 

God offers us all that ladder with Angels ascending and descending – we have access to the father, through Christ, and he says to us all, “Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go.”  He loves us.  We therefore should strive to live a life worthy of this calling, but we rejoice and rest in the assurance that we, unworthy and unlikely as we may be… are called, loved and we are God’s anointed and chosen people.

Wired for success Pentecost 7a 16th July 2023

Pentecost 7A  PROPER 10 (15)  Seventh Sunday after Pentecost  Year A  July 16, 2023

Genesis 25.19-34   Psalm 119.105-112   Romans 8.1-11   Matthew 13.1-9, 18-23

 

Our story continues this week, with what happened in the next episode of Isaac and Rebekah.  Like many of the ladies in this lineage of faith Rebekah was barren, but Isaac was living proof that barrenness is no obstacle in the plan of God.

Rather than skim over this story let’s look deeper.  Isaac was no spring chicken, as he was forty when he married Rebekah.  We don’t know how old he was when he prayed for his wife to have children but he was 60 when the twin boys were born.

 

We know that Rebekah is the chosen woman for Isaac.  The servant prayed that the exact right woman who the Lord chose would be the one who said to him, “Drink and I’ll water your camels also”.  We know that God gave the servant success and confirmed that Rebekah was his chosen lady for the wife of Isaac.  We are also told that Isaac didn’t just take Rebekah as his wife, but it is recorded that he loved her.  How must it have seemed to those living this reality to find that the perfect, God-given wife for Isaac, was barren.  Isaac’s name means laughter.  I imagine that he laughed.  His mother was barren and way beyond child bearing age when she gave birth to Isaac.  It was almost like history repeating, except that Isaac learned and accepted the lessons taught to Abraham.

 

Isaac knew well the dedication of his father to God, and it is obvious that he shared in that dedication and sure faith.  Isaac was directly saved by the grace of God, as the substitute for the sacrifice of his life, was the lamb of God.  Isaac lived in this reality – the reality of a substituted life – Saved by the sacred lamb of God.   Isaac also knew the promises of God, that Abraham’s descendants, through himself, would become a great nation and his people would be a great blessing to the whole world.  Therefore, the barrenness of his wife was a small matter.  He knew he was praying according to God’s will when he prayed for her to bare children and he knew that God would answer his prayer. There is no hint of doubt or pleading in the story…. Simply that Isaac prayed for his wife to conceive and she did.  If only we could have the faith of Isaac! – no hint of doubt, even though it was 20 years before she bore the children.

 

In the struggle for these children, Isaac and Jacob & Esau, to come into being, we know that they are children approved by God.  Without God they would not exist and I think that God is emphasising this fact so that they continue, through the generations, to know they can rely on him, to acknowledge him and his blessing, and bring his message to all people, that God would send a savour… a sacred lamb of God.

 

The twins born were at odds with each other, which is the story of our lives.  You know it is easy to love everyone when you don’t have to have anything to do with them.   The fact of our lives, and every single organisation is that as soon as we get beyond our politeness, we start to get on each other’s nerves.

 

We humans, and the tendency to sin, go hand in hand.  The jealousy that exists in families over one person receiving more than the other is just one example.  Jacob, the younger twin, was jealous of his brother Esau, who, as the first born, was entitled to the first blessing.  The tradition was that the firstborn would inherit a double share and also the clan leadership, making him the also the judge of the clan.  For Jacob and Esau there was a little more to it, as there was this promise from God associated with the blessing.  Which son do you think was assumed to receive the blessing of God to carry on God’s Word?  According to tradition, it should have been Esau, but here in this reading we have the prophetic word to Rebekah, indicating that it would be the younger.

 

God often delights to choose the least likely and the most rejected.  This may have been Jacob, but why would God choose him?   Jacob had a whole lot of flaws and had a lot to learn about the ways of God.  There is a lesson for us in this; God didn’t choose Jacob because he was good.  Jacob had a life time of conniving and deception, until the point where he wrestled with God and God changed his name to Israel.  God choose Jacob to be the one through whom would come the promises of Abraham, before he was born and had done anything good or bad.  This is another message of God’s grace and his message that we cannot earn God’s love – we have his love regardless.

 

In scripture we read that Esau despised his birth right.  Although Jacob was not exactly an exemplary man of God, Jacob desired to receive the promise and blessing of God.  Esau however, was happy to take on wives of the nations around him and had little regard for the faith of his father. In some ways Jacob represents the Church of God and Esau represents the other children of God who have not valued the Gospel. 

 

It is possible that the teachings of Abraham and Isaac, were to Esau, like one that sowed seed among the thorns.  This is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world,… other women with other gods,… and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing.  Perhaps… but you know, Jacob appeared to be not much better.  Jacob was no exemplary man as he was constantly deceptive and gained what he desired through deception.  Why should God pour His blessing on him?

 

Jesus tells us that the word that is sown on good soil, is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit.  Eventually this became the story for Jacob, but here is another message for us; The word of God, spoken through Abraham and Isaac, which appeared to bear little fruit with Jacob, eventually did.  It took years!!!  The journey of faith is definitely a marathon and not a sprint and no word of God goes out in vain, but accomplishes it’s purpose.  Such a message for us, that we need to be resilient and persevere in doing God’s will regardless of how we might see no fruit for many years… keep tilling the soil, and sowing the seed.  Keep the faith!

 

It could be said that Esau had his heart set on the flesh.  He didn’t care to submit to God’s law.  And we read in our letter to the Romans that the flesh cannot submit to God’s law.  You know, the last time I looked, you and I were made of flesh.  When we look at the life of Jacob, it seems that his heart was set on the flesh also, as actually to some extent we all do.  Perhaps the only difference was that Jacob desired the blessing of God.

 

You and I desire God’s ways.  We are just as able to give in to the flesh as Jacob and Esau, but we do desire to be the children of God.  And we do desire to do good.

 

This letter from Romans follows on from our last week’s reading also, where we discovered that we are often at odds within ourselves…. We so badly want to do things God’s way, but the desires to go our own way sometimes overwhelm…. Sometimes?? Or often??

 

This week I met with a friend who was pretty down hearted.  He had decided that he was going to do things the easy way, and was told afterwards that what he did was potentially very dangerous.  Nothing went wrong, but the anguish he felt was his disappointment in himself because he knew that, as a child of God, he should have done things the right way and followed protocol.  He felt the condemnation of others as he was criticised and chastised.  In that he felt that perhaps God condemned him also.  What would you tell a person in this circumstance?

 

Our letter to the Romans makes clear the incredibly Good News; There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  And that is the Gospel!  The Good News of Jesus Christ is this!

 

You might recall that last week I spoke about how the God’s law is like the law of Gravity, and we constantly fall as we fail to be perfect.  But to be “IN” Christ Jesus – where we surrender to God and accept Jesus as our sacrificial lamb that saves us, is like being in an aeroplane… the law of aerodynamics supersedes the law of gravity.  We are completely safe so long as we stay in the aeroplane and we are unconditionally saved so long as we stay “IN” Christ Jesus. 

 

What does it mean to be “In” Christ Jesus?  Do you remember Jesus’ prayer in John 17:21; “I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.” By surrendering to God, by accepting the gift of Jesus and by the Holy Spirit, and by remaining connected through prayer we remain IN Christ Jesus.

 

Just in case you are still not sure, our letter to the Romans explains it when it says, “But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you.”  And also, “If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness”.   We, like Isaac, also live in the reality of a substituted life – Christ the lamb of God has died in our place.  But now God also pours out his blessing on us, just as he did to Jacob – not because we are good or righteous, but because we are “IN” Christ and Christ is righteousness.  Spiritually our unrighteousness has been delt with… in Baptism our unrighteousness died with Christ and we are raised as having the Spirit of Christ – a righteous Spirit.

 

We like Jacob still have a lot to learn about God’s ways, but what a reassurance we have through the Gospel.  Listen to this next bit of Good News in Romans, “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.”

 

That Holy Spirit in us is like the electricity that gives light to our homes… and powers our modern life.  We have the electrical wiring and the power in us for living the life that God calls us to.  And I suspect we have much more ability than any of us actually can imagine.  We are children of God, chosen and loved.

 

I don’t know about you, but when I hear the Good News as explained to the Romans, I want to respond with a very loud “AMEN” – “Bring it on”.   I want to live the life that is “IN” Christ.  I want to continue to accept all that God calls me too.  The body of Christ really does keep us in eternal life.  This is what our eucharist is all about.  We accept the body of Christ, broken for us, because it means our life substituted for his… and the life we live we now live “IN” Christ and There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  Amen!  The Gospel is Good News!  Let’s truly take hold of it, rejoice and live it!

Called as a faithful servant to find a bride for the Master's son. Pentecost 6 A 09 07 2023

             2023 07 09 - PROPER 9 (14)  Sixth Sunday after Pentecost Year A

Would you believe that as I was scrolling through facebook last week, an add popped up for a Christian book by Paul Grimmond entitled; Water For My Camels:  The sub heading was, “Navigating the Space Between Singleness and Marriage When the Bible Doesn't Talk About Dating”.

In our Old Testament reading today we discover that the servant of Abraham has gone on a journey with the task of finding a wife for Isaac.  We can learn a lot from this faithful servant – Not so much about dating, but very much about accomplishing tasks.  This servant, most probably would have been the one to inherit Abraham’s riches if not for Isaac, yet he acts with complete dedication to the will of God and his master, Abraham. 

Firstly, this servant prays and asks God for success in his mission.  First and foremost, in all we do, we should do likewise.  God delights to give us amazing success, if we are willing to ask him.  Secondly, the servant asks for guidance via a sign.  Through this we learn that the servant desires to be in the will of God, and to know that he has the success which is in line with the calling of God.  In this case, the sign that he proposed, is that when he asks the girl who comes along to the well for a drink, if she says, “Drink and I will water your camels too”, then that is the girl that God has chosen. 

It wasn’t a random and disconnected sign.  I always imagined that the servant was weary from travel, which is why he was at the well, but commentaries on this scripture suggest that the servant strategically chose this spot, as he wanted to ensure that the wife for Isaac would be one with a particular character.  Abraham had charged the servant with going to Abraham’s own people to find a wife for Isaac for the purpose of finding a woman who had his own values; a woman of God!  We have some of the conversation recorded, but I’m guessing there were other things said also.  The servant desired to find just the right woman, and one who would be found working in the fields, who showed such charity to a stranger as to offer to water his camels too, would be one who was not just obliging, but one who was genuinely generous in spirit…. One who went the extra mile to be caring and considerate.

At the start of the school holidays, I went to Brisbane for my God-daughter’s wedding.   As is the case with weddings, stories are told about how the couple, Chiara and Aron, met.  Well…. They met online on a dating site.  The app or site is a third party that enables the relationship – much like the servant of Abraham – an intermediary.  The intermediary has information about the interests and values of the individuals involved and the idea is to find suitable matches.

One very important aspect of Chiara and Aron’s relationship that was made very clear in the story told about their journey leading up to them meeting, was that both Chiara and Aron had just about given up on finding someone who matched themselves for interests and values…. But both of them decided to give it one more try, but with one important difference.  Both of them prayed about the matter.

If you have read the stories in Genesis that follow, this one, you would know that Rebekah and Isaac had twin boys.  The younger of these, Jacob, who came to be known as Israel, also travelled back to Rebekah’s family where he found his two wives…. In fact, it was a similar story, but so very different and thwarted in many ways.  The difference being some very important aspects from which we can learn…. And these are those we see exemplified in Abraham’s faithful servant.

The servant of Abraham committed his purpose to God and prayed for success and that God would affirm that this success was in his perfect plan and will.  When he discovered that this woman, Rebekah, was indeed from the correct family line, he lavished her with gifts to show the wealth and intention of his master.  He did not act with any deception, but acted with honour and integrity.  When he met with Rebekah’s father and brother he did not relax, sit and eat and tarry.  Instead, he made his intention clear and sure.  He had a plan and stuck to it.

 All in all, we see that the servant of Abraham committed his task to God and made that task his first and only priority.   Throughout the Bible there are many stories of good people who got side tracked.  There is even a story of a man of God from Judah who prophesied, long before it happened, that a son named Josiah would be born to the house of David.   The man of God knew that he was to do his proclaiming and return the same day, but another prophet deceitfully convinced him to stay.  The next day the man of God left and was attacked by a lion and killed – yet the Lion was found standing next to the body of the man… not touching it.   Such an incredible story, that spoke volumes to the people of the time as to the absolute surety of the man of God’s prophetic utterance.  …. And a message that when we have a word from God, we need to stay true and not get side tracked.  Getting side tracked can have devastating and even life-threatening consequences.

 All of scripture comes to us with layers of meaning to teach us.  This is about making God’s priority, our priority.  The servant of Abraham made sure that his task was on track and he kept it on track.  He would not be persuaded to change his mind or distracted.  He didn’t rest until the matter was settled.

 Today we should reflect; what IS God’s priority?  Have we asked him what it is that He is calling us to?  As God’s own children and co-heirs with Jesus, we, as members of a royal family, have a role to play.  Jesus taught us to pray and used the words we know as the Lord’s Prayer, but have we considered our part in that prayer?  Your kingdom come, your will be done, on Earth as it is in heaven.  This comes about by our will and our priorities lining up with God our father’s will and priority.  We today are that servant.  We are the servants of God, commissioned going to find a Bride for his Son.  Charged with the task of finding and bringing in those who God loves.  Are we showing the same dedication?

 We do easily and often get side-tracked and so we need to see what St. Paul says about this in the letter to the Roman’s:  “For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.  For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.”

Don’t be confused by this passage, St. Paul simply explains the reality of the human condition.  We all want to do God’s will…. However, the reality is, we often… well… we get side-tracked.  The meme joke that I’ve seen that goes hand in hand with this is; “I was going to do something to change the world today, but something sparkly caught my eye.”

 

While we walk this earth in our human flesh, our spirit and our flesh or soul will always tend to be at odds.   St. Paul assigns this, in the language of a scientist, and calls it a law – the law of sin.  This law is simply a fact… much like gravity is a fact.   We delight in God’s perfect law, but this desire in me often overwhelms….. and St. Paul declares;  ”What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

 St. Paul explains the bad news so that He can then proclaim the Good News.  And quite honestly, our turning from following God’s ways has consequences.  We don’t know how far reaching in the physical, but it could be that others see our example, follow and also turn away from the ways of God. The ripple effect like a small pebble in a pond can be bigger than we think.  But thanks be to God, who delivers us all through Jesus Christ our Lord.

 You may have heard me speak before about the law of sin being like the law of gravity.   It is a simple fact.  We all struggle with it, but there is amazing Good News.  God delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord.   To accept that sin is a reality and acknowledge that we need help… and to accept that help and saving grace from Jesus, is much like getting into an aeroplane to overcome the law of gravity.

 When we have our identity securely in Christ Jesus, born into the spiritual family of God, a new law of grace is operating in our lives.   And if we liken the law of sin to gravity, then the law of God’s grace is like the law of aerodynamics.    Gravity still operates, but there is a new law of aerodynamics that lifts us beyond that gravity and enables us to operate differently.   We can fly, so long as we stay attached to Jesus…. Or securely in the plane. 

 Once again, if we follow this crazy analogy, we find that disconnecting from Jesus can have devastating consequences.  There is only one way to escape the law of gravity and it is the law of aerodynamics and there is only one was to escape the law of sin and it is through… well we could call it the law of Grace.  This is why there are warnings not to fall from Grace.  It doesn’t mean to not sin…because everyone sins at some time, but you only fall from Grace if you stop being connected to Jesus and trusting in his completed sacrifice.

 Prophets and faithful people fasted, striving to exercise self-control, but through Jesus sending his Spirit, self-control is a fruit of the Holy Spirit living in us.  God dwelling with us achieves all that we could not.  Jesus came eating and drinking and those in his time didn’t understand it.  Jesus has a message of Good News… one that deserves a party of rejoicing.  

 Our task for today is to make God’s priority our priority and not be distracted.  Rejoice, in the gift of God’s Spirit, knowing that Jesus has already achieved for us eternal life.  God is our priority, not because we need to win eternal life, but because we are happy and grateful that Jesus has secured this for us.  The Holy Spirit has our permission to move us and send us where God wills us to be.  In this way we are yoked to Christ – being moved by him into his will – and His will is for our Good.  What an exciting life this is - this way is living an abundant, Spirit filled life. 

Therefore, today we turn again to seek God’s will and commit to His priorities. We surrender to the leading of the Holy Spirit. This is the way of pure joy.  As we take communion today, I encourage you to be consciously aware of this… accepting the gift of God and committing to his ways, we take the yoke of Christ – learning from him and accepting all he offers us… surrendering to the Holy Spirit to lead us into the fulness of life.   God’s way is good…. Very good.