Dwelling in the house of the LORD Pentecost 14B 25th August 2024

2024  08  25  proper 16B  Pentecost 14B

 

1 Kings 8:(1,6,10-11), 22-30, 41-43;  Psalm 84;   Ephesians 6:10-20;  John 6:56-69

 

 

I’m not a great gardener, but I will often save the seeds of a mandarin or the top of the pineapple etc…. and plant them… or plan to plant them and then not get around to it.  I get a huge amount of joy from seeing a seed turn into a plant, but there are many seeds that don’t grow because I don’t get around to planting them, or I plant them but don’t get around to watering them, or I plant and water them, but I don’t get around to weeding and the weeds choke them out.  In our lives we get so involved in our activities.  Modern life is busy and stressful – so much so that sometimes all we can see is “this life”.  But this life is only the seed.  Today we discover that which is most important - it is the spirit that is important…. And to walk in the spirit, dwelling in God’s presence.

 

Our Psalm today tells us that it is better to spend one day in the court of the Lord, then to dwell a thousand days elsewhere.  Living in the presence of God is where we find true nourishment and true life – much like a seed that needs to be in the presence of soil for nourishment.  This spiritual life, where we dwell, or live, in God’s presence, is far and beyond better than the alternatives.

 

Our first reading today sets a rather dramatic scene where Solomon is praying at the dedication of the Temple.  Can you imagine going to the dedication of a building and just as the ceremony begins a thick cloud of the presence of God fills the place, so much so, that the priests could not minister?  The ark of the covenant of the LORD was brought out of the city of David, and carried to it’s resting place in the temple, and this is when the cloud filled the place. 

 

It is important that we note that the priests could not stand to minister.  This tells us that there was no priestly “Magic” involved.  There was no invocation or special actions that controlled our God.  In those days, in the surrounding nations’ temples were built for their gods and they believed that the temple would contain that god, much like putting a genie back in a bottle.  But El Shaddai -God almighty, the LORD, can not be contained, and Solomon acknowledges this in his prayer.  Previously, when the Israelites wondered the desert, the ark had been housed in the tent of meeting.  This was designated as a holy place where people could meet God, but the reality is that God can not be contained..

 

Can you imagine the glory of that Temple?  Throughout time there have been sacred places and sacred art created as monuments and as an expression of affection and dedication for God.  These things sometimes come under scrutiny as some will say,  “but look at the extravagance!  An expense wasted that could have gone to the poor”.   (and I think we heard someone else say this once before – it didn’t end well for him! (Judas))  “It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless.”  Jesus tells us.  These things, if created out of adoration for God, created by a spirit in humans responding to the glory of God, are an act of worship.  And Solomon’s temple became anointed by God’s tangible presence.

 

An important aspect of our readings today is to remind us to be in the presence of God.  To dwell in God’s house is not about being in a building, but about being the presence of God.  In the presence of God is to us, like the soil is to the seed.  To be in the presence of God, is to constantly be walking in the Spirit.

 

There is a paragraph that I spoke about last week, that I feel I need to repeat, as it has something important to teach us about the presence of God; Hebrew4christiains.com explains that the sages link the word for fear with the word for seeing and they say that when we see life as it is, we will be filled with wonder and awe of the glory of it all.  Every bush will be aflame with the presence of God and the ground that we walk upon shall suddenly be perceived as holy.  In this sense, fear and trembling before the LORD is a description of the inner awareness of the sanctity of life itself.

 

When we walk in the presence of God, we see things as He does, and realize the holiness of life around us.  I truly believe, that this kind of seeing would bring about such a sense of the sanctity of life that we would know the boundaries of some of those contentious issues that come before parliament.  And perhaps, just as importantly, we would know what God asks of us in these situations. The important prerequisite is to dwell in God..  Be in HIS presence.

 

Jesus says to us; “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me and I in them.”  Abiding is about being in the presence… Although, this eating flesh and drinking blood sounded revolting to those who had been taught to treat all life as sacred.  It was considered that the “Life” of the creature was in the blood.  In occultic practises there is a deliberate drinking of blood with the belief that they receive special life power from that act.  This practise was forbidden for the Israelites.  No wonder the followers of Jesus were offended. But can you see the implication of what Jesus was saying?

 

Jesus goes on to explain “It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.”  Which, for us, puts this more into perspective… Jesus was talking about a spiritual reality.  Last week, I also spoke about how this “partaking of Jesus body and blood” is about INCORPORATING the life of Christ into our own lives.  In fact, the followers of Christ may have even understood what Jesus was saying, as just this… but still they were offended.

 

Are we offended?  I personally don’t like the wording.  It makes me uncomfortable.  So why did Jesus use these words and this analogy?  I’m inclined to believe that it is for this very fact that we need to understand the difference between a follower and a Christian.  A follower is happy to learn all that Jesus teaches.  A follower wants to know the truth and belong to those who belong to the truth.  But to truly be a Christian, like the apostles, means to actually INCORPORATE the life of Jesus into our own lives.  This week we build on this understanding and we see that we need to abide in Christ – remain in the presence of God.

 

The communion, which we celebrate each week, is to say yes to accepting the very life of Christ as our own… we desire to, and commit to, taking the life of Christ and incorporating His life with our own… In doing this, there is a spiritual reality taking place, where we unite and abide in Christ, and He in us.  Because of His life, death and resurrection, we spiritually share that Life, death and resurrection and have eternal life.  Whether we sense it or not, we abide in him and we are in God’s presence.

 

We house this reality in our very limited flesh and this flesh forgets.  And so, we need to gather; to encourage each other and remember who we are… our true identity as the children of God, who live in his presence.

 

Jesus tells us that it is the spirit that gives life.  Our spiritual life is what we need to nurture, but there is always a spiritual battle.  We can easily see conflicts and obstacles as being a personal conflict with others, but St. Paul reminds us that our struggle is not against blood and flesh but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 

 

It isn’t just personal conflicts where this battle becomes evident, but when we come across people whose lives are without hope and burdened by drug use and other vices, we are witnessing the war.   When we see a culture of death, where life is seen as disposable and cheap, we are witnessing the war.  Those effected by all these things are souls for whom Jesus died, loved by God.  What do we imagine that God wants us to do in this?

 

We are people of the Spirit and there is a spiritual battle that we can not see… but we certainly come up against the physical expression of that battle.  St. Paul tells us that we should put on the armour of God. 

 

Since Jesus sent His Holy Spirit, and his spirit dwells in us, we are now the temple of God.  God’s presence is with us.  It is clear that God’s plan is for the salvation of all, and He never planned for us to simply worship in the temple that Solomon built, but to walk in the presence of God always, bringing the good news of God’s saving power to all.   So, how are we going with that?

 

If we are incorporating the life of Christ into our lives … living in God’s presence.. Taking Christ’s life into our own lives, we need to complete that action by going where Jesus would go.  We are the body of Christ and his spirit is with us.  Let us proclaim his peace out there… in the world… surely that is why he made us to be a moveable temple rather than a static one.  The difference is, instead of people coming to a place to meet God, through us and the spirit of God in us, God reaches out – but, though it isn’t always easy, will we say “Yes” to being led by God to bring the good news to our community?

 

A need for wisdom 2024 08 18 Proper 15/ Pentecost 13B

2024  08  18  Proper 15 Pentecost 13B

1 Kings 2:10-12, 3:3-14;  Psalm 111; Ephesians 5:11-21; John 6:51-58

 

I don’t think anyone would dispute that we live in complicated times.  We need only look at the social media comments and divisions over some significant events in the Olympics to realize that there exists a need for the wisdom of Solomon.  We’ve had divisions over race and religion in every country and there is always a call for justice and truth- but each side believes they ARE the ones on the side of justice and truth.  How can that be?  And where is the truth?  Who can lead this great people?  We could well understand that anyone taking on any leadership position in this current climate, may feel completely overwhelmed at the magnitude.  I might add, that if they don’t – beware of that person.  They are either an ignorant fool, or a narcissistic tyrant.

 

In our Old Testament reading we discover that King David has died and his son, Solomon is now king.  We discover that King Solomon is a good man who loves God, but the exception to his “goodness” was that he sacrificed and offered incense at the “high places”.  These places and practises were associated with pagan gods and Solomon had married an Egyptian princess, so it is possible that this was out of respect for her…. Or maybe he was hedging his bets.  The high places existed in Israel, because other Israelites were using these places too and also practising a kind of compromise.  They were God’s chosen people, but they were sacrificing to other gods also.

 

At this time, Solomon has a dream in which God comes and speaks to him.  Here we find out that Solomon was neither a fool nor a narcissist, but was humble.  He was concerned with being a good king, like his father David, and wanted to diligently lead the people of which God had put him in charge. God answered Solomon’s prayer for wisdom, but also added riches and long life.   The moral to the story is that God will abundantly reward, and delights to give good gifts to his people, but seek first the kingdom of God. 

 

Saint Paul’s letter to the Ephesians tells us; “Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.  Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.”  We need the wisdom of Solomon.  In fact, I have always thought, we need the heart of King David and the wisdom of King Solomon. 

 

The heart of King David was a heart of compassion, justice and mercy.  In fact, last week we read about how one of King David’s son’s, rose up against him and King David would have been happy to have died in his place.  He was happy to die for his son who wanted have him killed.   Does this sound familiar?  Jesus is God the son who came and died for us… for those who crucified him.

 

Just as the heart of King David was God’s own heart, the wisdom of King Solomon was God’s own wisdom.  We need this wisdom, and King Solomon certainly needed God’s wisdom, so he asked God for it.  Do you ever lament over decision making and wish you had the wisdom of God?  My daughter and I often lament how we have difficulty making decisions.  Should we have the chocolate brownie or the blondie?  And sometimes more important decisions too!!  The scriptures tell us; “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding…”  In other words, if we practise the fear of the LORD we will at least have a good understanding.  But what exactly is that?

 

This word, “Fear”, is one that is often discussed, as the original Hebrew language is rich with connection to meaning which we miss in the translation.  It is rightly translated fear, but holds within it the awe that we might experience when looking out from a high mountain.  Hebrew4christiains.com explains that the sages link the word for fear with the word for seeing and they say that when we see life as it is, we will be filled with wonder and awe of the glory of it all.  Every bush will be aflame with the presence of God and the ground that we walk upon shall suddenly be perceived as holy.  In this sense, fear and trembling before the LORD is a description of the inner awareness of the sanctity of life itself.

 

We, the children of God, don’t have a terrible fear of God, but an understanding that THIS IS GOD  - God who parted the Red Sea… who healed the lame and blind- who raised the dead and who rose from the dead… the God who created everything out of nothing.  This fear and awe of God brings about a seeing of the sanctity of life itself.  This “seeing” brings understanding and wisdom, and we know also, wisdom is a gift of the Holy Spirit.

 

All of our readings today are about how to live so that we can live a good and wholesome life.  Not just in eternity, because that eternity begins right here and now.  In fact, our eternal life begins with us accepting the truth and ways of God. 

 

Now, this accepting has to be more than being in agreement.  I can hear a motivational speaker on television tell me that I need to exercise for my health and I can agree and accept what they say, but unless I put that belief into action, the belief is of no real benefit for me, except that I’m in agreement with the truth.  Our life, and our spiritual life is the same.  We can have the wisdom of Solomon and know about many things… they say that he named plants and knew many things about nature and animals… but unless we actually apply that wisdom and incorporate it into our life, it is of very little benefit.

 

I use the word INCORPORATE quite deliberately.  We know what it means, but looking at the etymology of the word we find that it means to participate in body.  Jesus said to the people, “unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man (ie – body) and drink his blood, you have no life in you.”  At a glance this seems crazy.  What does he mean?   But looking at the etymology of the word INCORPORATE, this takes on new meaning.  We need to incorporate the life of Jesus into our body.  We can agree that God is good and that he sent his son to atone for our sins, but to really have the life of God…. To have eternal life, we need to completely take that body of Christ and incorporate it into our lives.

 

We use signs and symbols to help us understand what God does in our lives.  We use the water as the symbol of baptism, as this is our spiritual birth – Just like a baby grows surrounded by water in the womb - but we use the bread and wine as a most sacred sign of the sacrifice of Jesus and that we are accepting his life and desire to incorporate his life into our own.  If we do not do this, Jesus tells us, we have no life in us.  This is our challenge.  The gift of God is free and easy to obtain… God gives it freely, but we need to maintain that gift by incorporating it into our life.  Just as partaking of bread and wine means that those elements are now inseparable from us, the very essence of Jesus’ life becomes part of us - inseparable.

 

This year, as we reflect on how life can be so very complicated, we recognise that we need divine help to navigate life.  In every moment we have a choice; rely on ourselves, or turn to God as our source of wisdom, our source of life… we are offered abundant life here and now and abundant eternal life… and it is offered with the words, “Body of Christ, keep you in eternal life.” We respond with the word, “Amen” – meaning YES, so be it.

THE BREAD OF LIFE Proper 13B Pentecost 11 2024 08 04

2024  08  04  Proper 13 B Pentecost 11

2 Samuel 11.26-12.13a, Psalm 51.1-12, Ephesians 4.1-16 John 6.24-35

 

Are you feeling over worked, by working for food that perishes?  We all need to work for physical food to survive, but there is a better… or bigger way.  A way of abundant life.   That better way is not about giving up our daily jobs, but about understanding, that we are not merely physical beings.   In our Gospel reading Jesus says, “Do not work for the food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life.”  Jesus also tells us that we should work at believing in HIM.  In other words, we need to work at growing our faith and trust in Jesus.  Jesus is the Bread of Life – the food that does not perish.

 

 

Back in the days when the Israelites were wondering in the desert, they grew weary and hungry.  They had food with them as they had brought along their flocks, (but maybe they were like the man in the prophet Nathan’s story and loathe to sacrifice their own livestock??).  They actually had ample for the short journey that the trek through the desert was supposed to have been, but they longed for the foods that they enjoyed in Egypt.  These people had stopped thinking about the hardships they had endured in Egypt and they had stopped counting their God given blessings…. they had stopped focusing on the great deliverance of God – A lesson of warning for us.   They desired the good time s, and things that satisfy the body.  Their vison was limited to the moment and not on the future that God had promised them.  God heard them grumbling and gave them bread from Heaven.   A little later he sent quail for meat.  God understands our need and even our desires, but do we remember all that God gives us?

 

The story about the Manna in the desert was well known to the Israelites and it formed part of their regular rituals.  It is from this background knowledge that Jesus draws on, to explain that He is the bread from Heaven.  The Israelites did not work to produce the manna from heaven and likewise, Jesus does the work in giving us the bread from Heaven, the gift of himself.  In our scripture stories there is always an important spiritual teaching.    

 

Our story about King David continues from last week, and we find that after David has had Uriah killed in battle, he takes Bathsheba to be his wife….  She becomes one of his many wives…. Another in the harem.  The prophet Nathan, comes to speak to David and tells him a story of an injustice done to a poor man.  I’ve always thought that this story was about Uriah as the man and Bathsheba as the sheep, but it is a parable and can easily be seen the other way around.  Bathsheba as the one wife of Uriah and loved by him, has Uriah taken away from her.  David was the King, and so Bathsheba was hardly in a position to say No to his advances.  Becoming a wife in a harem, as opposed to living with a man to whom you are their one and only love, may have been more important than living in the luxury of the palace with the jealousy of other wives.  I don’t know, we can only guess, but certainly our story only gives us the bare bones, and I’m sure there was a whole lot more going on.

 

When David hears the story from Nathan, he is infuriated.  Remember David is a good and compassionate man…. usually.  King David stands against injustice and has a heart that reflects God’s heart… usually.  So, he demands justice for the man whose lamb has been taken, but then finds out that the man at fault is himself.  Like scales that immediately fall from David’s eyes, he acknowledges his sin. 

 

I find it noteworthy that David doesn’t blame the woman and God….  Instead, David acknowledges and accepts responsibility for his sin.  Our Psalm that follows is an outpouring of David’s heart about the matter.  “Have mercy on me God… Create in me a clean heart..”  David understands that it is the inner most part in us that needs the transformative touch of God.  Like Saint Paul famously said in Romans 7:18; “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. 19 For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.”

Notice the physical and the spiritual aspects; the “flesh” rails against the spirit.

 

I have a baptism story that I use.  It touches on this need for transformation and how it works.  It is the story of Patti the pig, who, as a piglet was the rejected runt.  Farmer Joe takes her into his home and treats her as a pampered pet, keeping her indoors and keeping her very clean.  All goes well for awhile and people marvel at how clean and beautiful this pig is.  She wears little outfits and eats when the family eats and wears a custom-made nappy.  But one day…. Someone leaves the door open.  Patti got a whiff of something, which to her smelt glorious, and down she trotted to the smelly, muddy pig pen.

 

You see you can clean the pig up and keep her clean, but to really change the pig you need to change her nature… or give her a different spirit.  Inside each of us is this magical, invisible, wonderful thing called spirit.  When we are baptised, God gives us his Holy Spirit so that we can grow to become more like him.

 

It is through Christ that we have the Holy Spirit, and now with the Spirit of God alive and active in us we are transformed into the likeness of God… but we need to ensure that we nurture the Spirit and not quench it. 

 

Our Psalm also tells us; “Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.  Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.”  God answered that prayer for David and for all of us by sending us His Holy Spirit.

 

David understood that he needed God’s Holy Spirit to save him from himself.  If even such a good and compassionate man of God like David could fall so monumentally, we need to think soberly about our own goodness because there, but for the grace of God go it. 

 

Why did Jesus say, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”?  This is understood for us, in the light of that other famous scene at the last supper, where Jesus took the bread and broke it, saying, “This is my body, broken for you.”  The life of Jesus was given… broken and given as a sacrifice to atone for the sins of the world.  But Jesus didn’t say, “this is my body, broken for the world”… he said, “Broken for YOU”.  This is personal.

 

We, like David, predominantly do good… want to do good.  But we are born of Adam spiritually and that innate tendency to sin leads to death and separation from God.  Jesus dealt with this.  He died for the sins of the world…. But he especially died for you and for me.  It is personal. God wants us to be in relationship with him and He knows that we fall, and as soon as the right circumstances present themselves, we fall again.   So, he sent Jesus to take away the barrier – our sin.

 

King David turned from his sin, but there were grave consequences for his sin… grave in every sense of the word, as death followed – Uriah died…  There would be trouble in David’s household… the baby Bathsheba conceived died also.  Sin has consequence and the consequence is death.   Jesus came and died.  He took that penalty and paid the price for us.

 

They say that those who are abusive are often broken and lacking in love in their own lives.  Alcoholics are trying to fill a void ….  All in all, our flesh longs for something, but the more we give in to that flesh, the more it wants.  We need instead, the bread of life.  The bread that satisfies so that we are no longer hungry or needing to fill that void.  Jesus is that bread of life. 

 

Coming to church and taking communion – Taking the bread of life - is our making conscious and public, our commitment and desire to be in union with Jesus and be nourished by him….  , in taking communion we are saying, “I accept that sacrifice and thank you that I am now in a personal relationship with God through that body broken.” 

 

The Holy Spirit is in us and it is the Spirit of Jesus.  There is one body and one Spirit, we are told in the letter to the Ephesians; One Lord, one faith, one baptism.  These all belong to Jesus.  But through our union with Jesus, we are baptised into Jesus’ death and resurrection.  The death of Jesus is our death because we are united to him… and through this union the debt for sin has been paid.  We are the body of Christ.  It is a spiritual reality…. We are part of the one body – Christ’s body.  Through this body, we are also united with each other and therefore must care for each other.

 

Today’s readings are a stark reminder that sin brings death.  But just as bread is broken to nourish and bring life, Jesus’ body was broken and given to bring us life. THE GOSPEL is incredibly good news;   God has already, through the broken body of Jesus, dealt with all our sins, both in the past and in the future.  If God paid such a high price for us, we mustn’t let anything keep us from enjoying a close and personal relationship with him.  God understands our humanity and our hunger…. Jesus offers us the bread of life… HIS life.  It is up to us to accept it… to feed on him.  We nourish our spirits by coming to Jesus and receiving his Holy Spirit, and we remember by coming to communion.

 

The sacrifice of Jesus, the bread from heaven, must not get lost in popular philosophy or the cultural diminishing of the Gospel message.  Like in the story of the feeding of the multitude, where all the left overs were gathered so that nothing was lost, we focus on the truth of all that Jesus does for us.  We read the scriptures and gather to support each other.   This is the work we need to do.  Jesus was asked, “What must we do to perform the works of God?"  Jesus answered them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent."  Our work is to grow in our faith. To walk with God… believing in him, and remain connected, being sustained and nourished by him.