What is it worth? Proper 25 Pentecost 20 26th October 2025

2025  10  26  Proper 25 Pentecost 20

• Joel 2:23-32 and Psalm 65    2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18 Luke 18:15-30

 

You may be thinking, “Here we go again… another scripture reading about riches and a warning against being rich”.  On a superficial level we could get the impression that to be a child of God means we need to be poor.  Jesus says it is hard for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God. There are several layers of meaning to the phrase, “Kingdom of God”.  It does mean Heaven, where God is King, but it also refers to the reign of Christ when he comes again to rule the earth, and it also refers to an attitude in our hearts where we personally submit to the kingship of God in our lives.   In the context of our Gospel reading, it is this attitude in the heart of the rich man, with which Jesus was concerned.

 

The rich man was a good and excellent man.  He wanted to be in a right relationship with God.  He was also a man of authority.  He is introduced to us as a ruler, and he addresses Jesus as “good teacher”.  This begins an important discourse, revealing something of the rich man’s understanding.  Scripture tells us, all of mankind fall short of God’s goodness.  Therefore, to call someone good, was to either equate them with God or to erroneously believe that one could attain a state of goodness such that eternal life could be earned.   Before Jesus answers the question, he tries to show the man his error.  But the rich man had a sense of his own “Goodness”, and he possibly expected Jesus to tell him so, and affirm him.

 

The man had been a law-keeper since he was a boy.  He would have been a great person to know.  He most probably, is like many today, who believe they keep God’s commands – those upstanding citizens who we know and who are good people.  They are often our wonderful friends who don’t attend church and wonder why we do.  They believe that they are good people and will go to heaven when they die because they are good law-abiding citizens.  The message from Jesus is important for us to understand as it has eternal consequences.  These wonderful friends can’t quote the first and greatest commandment, but they will know things like don’t steal or murder.  These are the commandments that Jesus quoted to the rich man, who enthusiastically said he’d kept them since he was a boy.  He missed that Jesus was giving him an opportunity to realize the commandments that Jesus didn’t quote – in particular, the command that is stated in Deuteronomy 6:4-5  “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. ⁵ Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”  The rich man missed what Jesus was trying to teach, and so Jesus gets to the heart of the matter; “Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”  Does Jesus ask this of everyone? 

 

From the prophet Joel we have the famous reading that we hear each Pentecost about God pouring out His Spirit on all people.  A wonderful aspect of this reading from Joel, is the promise that God is bringing good things.  God states that He will repay for the years that the swarming locust have eaten.  It speaks of a time of lavish blessings.  God is our father who loves to bless and give good gifts to his children. 

 

A time that I learnt this was when my girls were little.  I was struggling financially as a single mum, and my two girls had a half sister who was turning one.  I couldn’t afford to buy anything, but I thought that the girls ought to send a present.  I prayed about it.  There out the front of Best and Less, on a ridiculously low-priced special, was a polished cotton, blue, baby girl dress, complete with matching rompers and headband.  Still praying about it, I purchased and mailed it off, also praying that it would arrive at just the right time.

 

Fast forward to the story on the other side- The girls’ father was looking after his baby girl and was taking her for formal photos for her first birthday.  He went to get something to dress her in but couldn’t find anything suitable.  He only had practical clothes and nothing “Pretty”.  While he was still busy looking and agonizing over what to do, there was a knock at the door – the parcel arrived – and in it the most beautiful little polished cotton, blue outfit.  Perfect for her photos.  

 

This event taught me loads!   First of all, God provides.  Secondly, God loves to give us abundantly more than we imagine.  A pretty outfit is not a necessity.  It is something special.  This was God’s lavish love at work.

 

God is lavish in His love for us and lavish in all that he gives us. The prophecy of Joel is about the way the God will lavish His gifts on us.  Not only does He provide for us in the hard times, but he delights to bring us into times of blessing.  What would this reading say for our church today….?  But wait… there is more… in those days, He will pour out His Spirit.  THIS is His most lavish gift for the Church.

 

We read this at Pentecost, and there is a connection to the Holy Spirit being poured out on our Church and God’s law.  Jesus left room in his conversation, for the rich man to speak about the first commandment, but it was overlooked.  The feast of Pentecost, before the Christian church began, was a Jewish festival and it still is, and Pentecost is known as the Feast of Weeks or Shavuot.  It is a festival celebrated 50 days after Passover.  It was originally an agricultural celebration of the first fruits harvest it became strongly associated with the commemoration of the giving of the ten commandments at Mount Sinai, which also occurred approximately 50 days after the Israelites' exodus from Egypt. 

 

So, here we are talking about the commandments again – but also first fruits which was a command that the people give the first of their fruits to God.  What was missing in our Gospel reading is to give to God first – to love God first.  The Holy Spirit comes to write God’s law in our hearts.  We might not steal or commit murder, but we are all imperfect in our ability to love.  If the rich man really did love God perfectly, he would have been willing to sell all his possessions and go and follow Jesus.

 

What about us?  Many people who have nothing find hope in God.  They put their trust in him and know his provision, his goodness and love, but those who are attached to possessions, generally put their trust in these things….. We put our trust in these things…  Jesus asked the man to sell everything and give to the poor, not because he wanted the man to be poor, but that he wanted the man to understand the surpassing richness of God.  It isn’t the wealth that is the problem, but our hearts and our tendency to trust in wealth and not value the glorious riches we have in God. 

 

Saint Paul described his life as being poured out like a libation.  Saint Paul understood life in eternity, as being a reward far greater than riches.  For this reason, he was willing to suffer and endure many hardships.  In this world, many are willing to suffer and endure hardships to earn money.  Consider mining work; it isn’t easy and means living away from your family for some time, but many families make these sacrifices because the reward of the pay is worth it.  But do we have an understanding of eternity such that we can see that eternity is so worth it?   Saint Paul and so many others who were martyred for their faith lived the way they did because they knew it was worth it…. Eternal life is worth it… God’s love… is worth it. 

 

Jesus lamented how hard it is for the rich man to enter the kingdom of God, but also added that what is impossible for man, is possible for God.  There was an element that the rich man was missing, and it is an element that most of us miss as well.  When we think that we are… hmmm… well… pretty good, and when our lives are comfortable, we miss that we need a saviour.  

 

What must I do to inherit eternal life?  What must any of us do?  Firstly, we can’t “Inherit” eternal life unless we are related to him who owns eternal life.  God gave people the law to show us what is best and what is good and to show us his glory and goodness – but scripture tells us that we all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

 

The rich man needed to realize his need for a saviour.  His righteousness was self-righteousness and self-righteousness is a myth, as it bases our goodness on our own set of rules.  Pretty much, this is where most of the world is at now.  People will tell you that they are good.  Even those who are charged with crimes will tell you that they are actually good, according to their own version of the rules.  Eventually we need to wake up and see that if we want eternal life, God’s rules are the only ones that count and according to him, we all need a saviour!

 

Does God ask us all to sell our possessions and follow him?  He does ask us to have NO other gods before him and if that means selling all our possessions we must do it, because our eternal life is in peril.  If there are things, or people or hobbies, or activities in our life that keep us from whole heartedly following Jesus, we need to let those things go.   Even still, to inherit eternal life is impossible in, and of ourselves. We need a saviour because it is not something we can earn by our good deeds. 

 

The Good news is, that we DO have a saviour.  Jesus Christ.  We cannot live lives that are good enough, but God loves us and HE made a way.  Through baptism we are united to Christ, who perfectly kept the law, and what is impossible for us mere mortals, is possible for God.  Through our union with Jesus we become children of our God who lavishes us with every good gift.

 

Regardless of how hard we have things here, God declares He will repay for the years that the locust destroyed. The future is brighter than bright, rest assured.  But like Paul, keep fighting the good fight, living for God - giving all to him. Don’t fall off the track before the finish line.  Keep the faith!  Give to God our first and best – our allegiance, our heart!

Keep the Main Thing, the Main Thing! Proper 23C Pentecost 18 12th Oct 2025

 2025  10  12   Proper 23C  Pentecost

Jeremiah 29.1, 4-7 Psalm 66.1-11, 2 Timothy 2.8-15, Luke 17.11-19

 

Saint Paul wrote to Timothy and told him; “Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David--that is my gospel, for which I suffer hardship, …..”  Timothy was in charge of the Christian community in Ephesus.  After being placed in charge, Paul tells him to remember Jesus Christ…. How odd!  How could the leader of a church forget? 

 

The central message of the Gospel is that Jesus Christ, descendant of David, rose from the dead.  We all need to be reminded, not to get side-tracked in issues, ideas, or superstitions, but we need to remember the Gospel message – which means that we need to keep the main thing, the main thing, …and the main thing is Jesus!  Jesus had a tracible genealogy.  We know that he was a descendant of the famous Israelite King, David, and he was born in the town of David, Bethlehem.  His parents had travelled there to be counted in the census as descendants of David. 

 

In our modern world of fake news and A I generations, it is important to know the truth.   And most important is the truth about Jesus Christ because Jesus Christ raised from the dead, a descendant of David – is our Gospel.  Unfortunately, the historical facts about Jesus have been put into the “religion” category, therefore, largely ignored, not taught and assumed by many to be nothing more than a myth.

 

I had not realized the extent to which people were unaware of the history about Jesus until recently when someone on facebook told me that the nearest DNA relatives to the Israelites are the Samaritans.   I found this kind of funny, because anyone who knows a little about the Bible, knows that the Samaritans were a mixed breed of the Jews, from when they went into exile.  This very thing is what Jeremiah is talking about when he tells the people to live in the cities in exile, mixing with the people and working side by side with them for the good of the city.  The facebook commentator’s point was that there is no validity to the nation of Israel.  I find this incredulous when the bible is full of genealogies and the race of Israel can be so perfectly traced.  In fact, the term “Semitic” comes from the son of Noah – remember Noah was the one who built the ark – he had a son called Shem and it is from this line that the Israelites came.

 

Jesus’ earthly existence has been verified.  He was written about by historians  - not just Christian ones.  Why is it the year 2025?  It is assumed to be 2025 years since the birth of Christ… the birth of Jesus.

 

An essential element in our Gospel message is to know that Jesus was a real person in history.  He was a man who walked this earth.  Another essential element of our Gospel message, is to know that Jesus rose from the dead.  Jesus was both man and God, and the implications of him dying on the cross and rising from the dead, means that the message of Jesus is reliable.  We are loved by God, and our life has an eternal purpose.  The resurrection seems incredible; however, the Bible tells us that Jesus appeared to over 500 people after he rose from the dead, and those were still alive when this fact was written about – those people could, and did, testify to that fact.  Many of them were put to death, in an effort to stamp out that fact or to make the witnesses deny that fact, but they didn’t deny him. 

 

Saint Paul quotes a faithful saying;  “For if we died with Him, we shall also live with Him.  If we endure, we shall also reign with Him.  If we deny Him,

He also will deny us.  If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.” 

The early church knew the saying and they knew what it meant and they refused to deny Christ and the truth.  Many were faithful unto death.

 

How strong is our faith?  Can we remain faithful to God even if great persecution were to come against us?  The early Christians were put to death for their faith.  It is in this environment that Saint Paul exhorts Timothy to keep the main thing the main thing.  Jesus Christ who is both God and man, died to take away the sin of the world and he rose from the dead, declaring victory over death and eternal life for those who are the children of God – you and me.

 

Through our baptism we become children of God.  It is an actions that declares our response to the Gospel and through it we are united to Christ.  Therefore, we have died with him, and we will also live with him.  But it doesn’t stop there.  If we endure, we will also reign with him.  Baptism begins our spiritual, eternal life, and it doesn’t end with death.  There is a future that we yet don’t know, but if we endure, we will also reign with Christ.

 

In our baptism it is a little like the story of the ten lepers.  In our baptism we are declared the healed children of God – we are healed from the spiritual consequence of sin.  All the world is offered this healing.  Some respond and come to be baptised….  And all those who are baptised become the children of God.  So very loved and cherished by God. 

 

One leper, out of the ten, came back to give thanks to Christ.  The other nine were also healed but I guess we could say that they forgot to keep the Main thing, the main thing.   They were faithless, but God was still faithful – they were healed.  Being faithless is different to denying.   But it can be a slippery slope if we forget to keep the Gospel message central.

 

The people of God are to continue being faithful to God.  The people of Jeremiah’s time, had just gotten on with living their lives, distracted from the remembrance of the great things that God had done for them.  They didn’t become faithless overnight… but gradually as they let the word of God slide more and more, until they reached the point where they had been faithless, and were involved in practises that a faithful child of God should not be involved in.  The consequence was that many in the nation were taken into exile.  They were sent into exile and at that time Jeremiah reminded them to keep the Main thing, the Main thing.  God is still God and is still in control.  Whether they were in their own land or taken into a strange land to live, they were to be faithful to God… but what’s more, they were called to be blessed and be a blessing to that strange land.  The word of the Lord through Jeremiah to those people was; “multiply there, and do not decrease.  But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.”   Multiply, seek the welfare of the city and intercede to God on it’s behalf. 

 

Every child of God is called to be an intercessor for their town – and country.  Every child of God is called to seek the welfare of their town, and every child of God is called to be fruitful and multiply.  For us as church, that means that we should continue to grow, continue to work with our community for the good of the town and PRAY for our town.  We must also keep the Gospel message central.  Jesus Christ was raised from the dead.  This is no small thing, and I suspect that many people in the generation growing up now don’t even know this Main Thing.  How can we help them to know?

 

Jesus Christ rose from the dead.  He was so well and truly dead, that when they pierced his side with a sword, blood and water came out.  That was the Friday.  By Sunday he had risen from the dead.  Christ has died.  Christ IS risen.  Christ WILL come again.  This is what we declare at every eucharistic service, and we mustn’t lose sight of how mind blowing this is.  More than mind blowing in itself, is the implications of this reality for us.  We are all offered forgiveness, the spiritual consequence of sin is taken away and we become children of this God who healed the sick and raised the dead…. And we are told that we will reign with him.  I feel like we all just need a moment to contemplate this…. We are children of God and heirs with Christ…

 

Christ has died and Christ is risen…. This is where we live – in this reality.  This is the Main thing, and he also sends His Holy Spirit to fill us and empower us.  Children of God we are now, through our baptism. Heirs with Christ we will be, if we endure. 

One day Christ will come again.  No one knows the day or time, but Jesus, who rose from the dead, declared it, and so we believe.  So, what are we doing today?  Are we the returning healed leper, giving God thanks?   Are we being faithful stewards of the spiritual gifts that he has given us? 

 

Tough times may be upon us, but God has great things planned for our future with him.  In the meantime, work and pray for the prosperity of our town.  Be blessed in this, and keep the MAIN thing, the main thing…Jesus Christ rose from the dead – This is our Gospel.