Year A Proper 11 20 July 2014
Genesis 28: 10-19a Psalm 139: 1-12, 23-24 Romans 8: 12-25 Matthew 13: 24-30, 36-43
This Sunday is the 6th after Pentecost and it causes me to reflect on how we might be feeling six weeks after a major event.
The day of Pentecost brought an awakening to its recipients like that of a new birth. The scales were dropped from their eyes and they were empowered with courage and wisdom. They knew they were God’s chosen vessels and they had a purpose and an anointing by God himself to do the job. But let’s bring this to a personal level and imagine it was us who were there being brought to new life by the Holy Spirit…. Where are we at when the passage of time has passed?
I suspect we all suffer from an identity problem where we know we belong to God but we are unsure of our place in God’s kingdom. Mostly we are not aware of this, and I think we are a little like Jacob in our first reading.
Jacob was the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham… the twin brother of Esau. Now, Abraham knew that he was chosen and blessed by God. Isaac knew that he was chosen and blessed by God. Jacob, however, was the second born of the twins. He doubted that he had any blessing and that which he did have in the way of birth-right or blessing was obtained by deceit and cunning. I’m guessing that he was told of the family blessing and promises of God, but I’m also guessing that Jacob doubted that these were in any way something that would be his unless he could manipulate and contrive. He was not aware that he was already chosen – he really did not comprehend his true identity in the kingdom of God.
It is also worth noting that Jacob set out on his journey alone. It seems quite possible that his father did not understand the true God-given identity of Jacob. His father preferred Esau and naturally may have assumed that God’s blessing and choosing was on him. Why I mention this, is that there are often people in our lives, God-fearing and spirit-filled, good people, who will not see our God-ordained identity, just as Isaac did not realize God’s anointing on Jacob. We can’t base our identity in the kingdom of God on anyone else’s perceptions, but only on God’s calling and God’s say so!
That night, in his loneliness and doubt, Jacob dreamt of a structure that ascended to heaven and the Angels were going up and down.
Genesis 28:13-15 “There above it stood the LORD, and he said: “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.””
There is nothing conditional about this promise that God makes to Jacob and Jacob wakes in awe of the place naming it “Bethel” meaning house of God. This is only the beginning of Jacob’s interactions with God, because he, like us, is a creature of habit and it takes a long time for the truth of God’s sure calling to sink in. Jacob acknowledged that place as being sacred, but it seems he did not yet understand the nature of God as the psalmist did:
Our Psalm for this Sunday is Psalm 139.
Psalm 139:7-10 “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.”
In our Gospel reading Jesus tells the story of the parable of weeds and he explains it. He is the one who sows the good seed and the good seed are the people of God’s kingdom. Now, I want us to realize that good seed is not weeds. No matter how poorly growing or how stunted or diseased, the good seed are still the people of the kingdom of God. In fact the reason that there are growth problems with good seed can be the influence of weeds, but the parable goes on to tell us not to deal differently with the weeds, but to nurture both so as to give the best growth opportunities for the seed without damage, which is what could be caused by trying to deal with the weeds.
I suspect that in the past people may have been critical and judged poorly growing seeds as being the weeds…. Trying to take things into their own hands, thinking they are helping God by weeding out the weeds.
Our Gospel makes it clear that the job of weeding is not ours. This is the job of the Angels. A very real reason it is NOT our job is that we would surely mistake the good seed for the weed. This is where Jacob and Esau were at before God made it clear. Jacob thought of himself more as a weed growing alongside the seed chosen for the kingdom.
The calling of God in our lives is sure. He doesn’t call us and then change His mind. He doesn’t choose us, anoint us, give us a promise of a future and then change His mind. He sees down the tunnel of time and all that we will do in the future, the good, the bad and the ugly, and if He has called and chosen us, then you can be absolutely assured that this is an unconditional call.
Romans 8:14-17 “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.”
We all have a personal “Pentecost”; a time when the scales fell from our eyes and we became aware that God chose us…. But it may have been a while ago. Have we forgotten our identity in the kingdom of God? Have our circumstances or other people caused us to doubt our reality? We need to look to God’s word and the stories of those like Jacob and realize the truth; We are called, we have a purpose and a future, an amazing identity as a child of God. We need to begin and or continue to walk confidently in this truth. Hardships of life are a given, but knowing who we are in Christ gives us strength is hope eternal.
Sunday, July 13, 2014
Monday, December 16, 2013
The Lord himself will give you a sign - Advent 4
Year A Fourth Sunday of Advent 22 December 2013
Isaiah 7:10-16 Psalm 80: 1-7, 17-19 Romans 1: 1-7 Matthew 1: 18-25
Last week I had an awesome experience where my students, beginning with the very littlest began asking lots of questions about God. I don’t know that I answered them all adequately but I tried my best in the little time that we had while still remembering that we were in the midst of a singing lesson and needed to get back on the singing track.
I wish that I had more time to explain things more fully and tell the story that we are to hear at church this weekend. The first question was, “I thought Jesus was God’s son, so how come the song talks about Joseph being his father?”
This week’s readings center around the theme of prophecy fulfilled and that prophecy being that a virgin shall be with child.
Isaiah 7:14 “14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”
The purpose of the sign was so that people would believe that God was active, involved and interested in his creation. Immanuel – God with us! God wants a relationship with us.
The Bible is full of miracles and each time there is a miracle it was to prove God’s reality and sovereignty. But each time there was a miracle there were a variety of responses. Many people who witnessed or heard about the miracle believed that something supernatural had happened and on a superficial level they believed in God, but pretty soon the majority turned away. They still acknowledged that something happened but they didn't want to give credit to God.
Why would this be?
If we experience a miracle and credit it to God it means that we need to respond.
Joan Osborne sang the song “One of Us”, with the pertinent lyrics “If God had a face what would it look like? And would you want to see If seeing meant that you would have to believe in things like heaven and in Jesus and the saints and all the prophets”
To believe in the virgin being with child not only means that we believe God did a miracle, but it is to believe something about the character and person of Jesus – that he is truly the son of God. To believe that Jesus is the son of God means that all he did and said is true and deserves acceptance.
Our first reading is a prophecy which assures the people that God is with them. They had been unfaithful and their king was wicked and yet God gives them this message of hope.
From this website: http://www.godandscience.org/apologetics/virginbirth.html I found some interesting information about the supposed existence of virgin births that happen in nature. This really has nothing to do with our story because a miracle (by my definition at least) is something that does not occur in nature. Let me note here that I've come across a theologian who claimed that one day we will understand that Jesus’ miracles were nothing more than his superior knowledge of how the universe works and all the miracles will be explained away as a natural phenomenon. I believe the man was a heretic breeding doubt and disbelief. In the end it all comes down to one thing; Is God God? If God truly is then all things are possible.
Other cultures also have stories about a virgin birth. These occur among the Greek and Roman gods and Asian gods also. I find this interesting and think that God really does aim to make himself known to all people – it is an opening, just like when Saint Paul was in Athens and saw the altar to an unknown god. Paul went on to proclaim and make the unknown God known.
Some would say, “Does it matter if Mary was a virgin?” The Isaiah prophecy has caused some commentators to wonder if the word that is translated virgin should be “Virgin” or “young woman”.
We have historical evidence for the existence of Jesus that goes beyond Christian literature, and so on this and on the account of the stories of Jesus we can have reason for our faith. Yet we find clarity and expansion on this specific prophecy in the Gospels where the story of the virgin conception is told in detail.
This young virgin, Mary, lived in a time when those found guilty of adultery could be stoned to death. Being pregnant out of wedlock was a sure sign of adultery – although her one possible saving grace could be that she was engaged to Joseph and so people would assume that the child was his. Joseph knew that this was not his child.
This comment from the website Evidence for God, (http://www.godandscience.org/apologetics/virginbirth.html#top) makes a lot of sense in regard to the Virgin conception:
“….Of course, the Bible describes the virgin birth as a miracle that resulted from the action of the Holy Spirit. We don't know exactly what was involved, but it would probably require at least some genetic source from the Holy Spirit.
Regardless of the method by which Jesus was conceived, it would have been very risky to document and claim that He was born of a virgin. In the Middle East there were "honour killings" for women who conceived out of wedlock, so to speak of a virgin birth was extremely dishonourable. In fact, the Bible alludes to some disparaging remarks made by the opponents of Jesus. In addition, if you look at the anti-Christian literature at the time, much of it focused on this aspect of Christianity. This makes one wonder why, if Christians were just making up a religion, they say something that would offend virtually everybody in the Middle East. It makes no sense to make up something offensive, unless it were true.”
In many ways, most of us are like Joseph. We are people of faith, but people who doubt also. We can’t help but see that some things are hard to believe and we are logically going to be skeptical about weird things like virgins being with child.
When Joseph discovered that Mary was pregnant he decided that he would divorce her quietly. I should explain that their version of being “engaged” was rather different to ours and there were certain expectations and traditions that went along with it.
Joseph was a man of faith, yet he did not recognize the hand of God and so God had to be more direct with him and sent an angel to tell him the truth about the child that Mary was to give birth to.
Matthew 1:20-23 “But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).”
We discover two things about Jesus from this passage. His name, Jesus, indicated his purpose - To save. The prophetic name, “Immanuel” which means “God with us” proclaims to us the truth of his nature – He is God. John 1 tells us that the word was God and the word became flesh and dwelt among us”. This is Jesus. What will we believe?
The prophecy has been fulfilled and miracles witnessed. But God knew that even if someone was to come back from the dead there are some who will still not believe. In fact that is what Jesus did. He rose from the dead and is still alive today. What will it take for our belief?
Sometimes I think that we as Christians, who proclaim the truth of God and the evidence of God all around, are God’s way of giving people every possible opportunity to come to him and when they don’t they will not be able to say, “but Lord you didn't show me you were real”.
Remember that we might be the only Bible that some people read.
Two final things:
There are signs and witnesses of God all around – are we willing to see?
We are the signs and witnesses of God – are we willing to be?
Isaiah 7:10-16 Psalm 80: 1-7, 17-19 Romans 1: 1-7 Matthew 1: 18-25
Last week I had an awesome experience where my students, beginning with the very littlest began asking lots of questions about God. I don’t know that I answered them all adequately but I tried my best in the little time that we had while still remembering that we were in the midst of a singing lesson and needed to get back on the singing track.
I wish that I had more time to explain things more fully and tell the story that we are to hear at church this weekend. The first question was, “I thought Jesus was God’s son, so how come the song talks about Joseph being his father?”
This week’s readings center around the theme of prophecy fulfilled and that prophecy being that a virgin shall be with child.
Isaiah 7:14 “14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”
The purpose of the sign was so that people would believe that God was active, involved and interested in his creation. Immanuel – God with us! God wants a relationship with us.
The Bible is full of miracles and each time there is a miracle it was to prove God’s reality and sovereignty. But each time there was a miracle there were a variety of responses. Many people who witnessed or heard about the miracle believed that something supernatural had happened and on a superficial level they believed in God, but pretty soon the majority turned away. They still acknowledged that something happened but they didn't want to give credit to God.
Why would this be?
If we experience a miracle and credit it to God it means that we need to respond.
Joan Osborne sang the song “One of Us”, with the pertinent lyrics “If God had a face what would it look like? And would you want to see If seeing meant that you would have to believe in things like heaven and in Jesus and the saints and all the prophets”
To believe in the virgin being with child not only means that we believe God did a miracle, but it is to believe something about the character and person of Jesus – that he is truly the son of God. To believe that Jesus is the son of God means that all he did and said is true and deserves acceptance.
Our first reading is a prophecy which assures the people that God is with them. They had been unfaithful and their king was wicked and yet God gives them this message of hope.
From this website: http://www.godandscience.org/apologetics/virginbirth.html I found some interesting information about the supposed existence of virgin births that happen in nature. This really has nothing to do with our story because a miracle (by my definition at least) is something that does not occur in nature. Let me note here that I've come across a theologian who claimed that one day we will understand that Jesus’ miracles were nothing more than his superior knowledge of how the universe works and all the miracles will be explained away as a natural phenomenon. I believe the man was a heretic breeding doubt and disbelief. In the end it all comes down to one thing; Is God God? If God truly is then all things are possible.
Other cultures also have stories about a virgin birth. These occur among the Greek and Roman gods and Asian gods also. I find this interesting and think that God really does aim to make himself known to all people – it is an opening, just like when Saint Paul was in Athens and saw the altar to an unknown god. Paul went on to proclaim and make the unknown God known.
Some would say, “Does it matter if Mary was a virgin?” The Isaiah prophecy has caused some commentators to wonder if the word that is translated virgin should be “Virgin” or “young woman”.
We have historical evidence for the existence of Jesus that goes beyond Christian literature, and so on this and on the account of the stories of Jesus we can have reason for our faith. Yet we find clarity and expansion on this specific prophecy in the Gospels where the story of the virgin conception is told in detail.
This young virgin, Mary, lived in a time when those found guilty of adultery could be stoned to death. Being pregnant out of wedlock was a sure sign of adultery – although her one possible saving grace could be that she was engaged to Joseph and so people would assume that the child was his. Joseph knew that this was not his child.
This comment from the website Evidence for God, (http://www.godandscience.org/apologetics/virginbirth.html#top) makes a lot of sense in regard to the Virgin conception:
“….Of course, the Bible describes the virgin birth as a miracle that resulted from the action of the Holy Spirit. We don't know exactly what was involved, but it would probably require at least some genetic source from the Holy Spirit.
Regardless of the method by which Jesus was conceived, it would have been very risky to document and claim that He was born of a virgin. In the Middle East there were "honour killings" for women who conceived out of wedlock, so to speak of a virgin birth was extremely dishonourable. In fact, the Bible alludes to some disparaging remarks made by the opponents of Jesus. In addition, if you look at the anti-Christian literature at the time, much of it focused on this aspect of Christianity. This makes one wonder why, if Christians were just making up a religion, they say something that would offend virtually everybody in the Middle East. It makes no sense to make up something offensive, unless it were true.”
In many ways, most of us are like Joseph. We are people of faith, but people who doubt also. We can’t help but see that some things are hard to believe and we are logically going to be skeptical about weird things like virgins being with child.
When Joseph discovered that Mary was pregnant he decided that he would divorce her quietly. I should explain that their version of being “engaged” was rather different to ours and there were certain expectations and traditions that went along with it.
Joseph was a man of faith, yet he did not recognize the hand of God and so God had to be more direct with him and sent an angel to tell him the truth about the child that Mary was to give birth to.
Matthew 1:20-23 “But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).”
We discover two things about Jesus from this passage. His name, Jesus, indicated his purpose - To save. The prophetic name, “Immanuel” which means “God with us” proclaims to us the truth of his nature – He is God. John 1 tells us that the word was God and the word became flesh and dwelt among us”. This is Jesus. What will we believe?
The prophecy has been fulfilled and miracles witnessed. But God knew that even if someone was to come back from the dead there are some who will still not believe. In fact that is what Jesus did. He rose from the dead and is still alive today. What will it take for our belief?
Sometimes I think that we as Christians, who proclaim the truth of God and the evidence of God all around, are God’s way of giving people every possible opportunity to come to him and when they don’t they will not be able to say, “but Lord you didn't show me you were real”.
Remember that we might be the only Bible that some people read.
Two final things:
There are signs and witnesses of God all around – are we willing to see?
We are the signs and witnesses of God – are we willing to be?
Thursday, December 5, 2013
Advent 2 8th December 2013 Prepare!
Year A Second Sunday of Advent 8 December 2013
Isaiah 11: 1-10 Psalm 72: 1-7, 18-19 Romans 15: 4-13 Matthew 3: 1-12
IT is the second Sunday of Advent. Our first Sunday message was to “wake up”, but this Sunday we look at what we need to do be prepared for the coming of Christ. We look at how people prepared for Jesus first coming, consider how to be prepared for his second coming, but most importantly we reflect on how to prepare or check for our own personal acceptance of Jesus in our lives .
Just before Jesus began his ministry there was this man we know as John the Baptist, who came and prepared the way for him. It is important that we look at what John did and what his message was because, in oh so many ways, this is what we need to be doing to prepare ourselves to receive Christ.
Matthew 3:1 “In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.””
This is how John prepared the way; he encouraged them that the Kingdom of heaven had come near and that the people should therefore repent.
We know that the kingdom of heaven had come near, because we know that God himself had taken on human flesh and been born as one of us. At this point in the story Jesus is believed to have been about 30 years old.
When we read the stories of the Bible we can make two possible mistakes. One mistake is to imagine that the people of the Bible times were nothing like us. The other mistake is to imagine that the people of the Bible were exactly like us. Somewhere in between is the truth. These were a people born in another place and time and into a culture that was very different from our own and yet these were flesh and blood people with hopes and dreams, ambitions and fears and desires – very much like us.
Just as the message would be pretty unpopular in our culture, I wonder how popular John’s message was when he urged the people to repent. If we look at more of the Bible stories we can see that the poorer and more humble of the people were very ready to accept that they were people who fell very short of the perfection of God and they were aware that they couldn't meet the requirements to be accepted by him. Even the Scribes and Pharisees, who were known for being self-righteous and indignant about their own goodness, came to John to be baptized and accepted his message of repentance.
In today’s society I’m pretty sure that if I proclaimed this same message of John the Baptist, I would most certainly offend and be condemned as a loony (no one believes that they fall short. I have met so many men who have told me how they are really good blokes and deserving of good things!!). But let us look at what this message really is and see if it is something we need to do today.
Firstly, has the kingdom of heaven near?
When Jesus came to earth we can understand that the kingdom of heaven had come near in a very real and tangible way, but Jesus then ascended to heaven. What has happened since then is that Jesus sent the promised Holy Spirit to his followers. The Holy Spirit is God in us. Yes the kingdom of heaven is nearer than ever, it is all around and among us. “Emmanuel” – GOD IS WITH US! (and Christmas (the celebration of God with us) is everyday!)
Now we need to look at the part of the message that urges us to repent. Do we need to repent and what really is repentance?
Often people think that repentance has to do with an intense feeling of remorse and self-loathing…. This is wrong! Repentance actually means to change your mind and go back another way. Essentially this is not about the emotions, but a very definite decision made by the intellect that we need to change our thinking.
Do we and the world around us in the year 2013 need to change our thinking?
Romans 15:4 “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.”
Does the world seem to be in need of hope? I think that the answer to this is so obvious that the question is really rhetorical. We learn from this letter to the Romans that all things written in scripture are written for our encouragement and to give us hope. If John the Baptist had a message that gave people hope some 2013 years ago then that same message is meant to provide even more encouragement and hope for today.
The people of John’s time were waiting for the “Messiah” (the anointed one who would reconcile humanity with God) and he seemed to be a long time in coming, and they’d all but given up. When John came with his message to repent we can’t possibly know the full extent of that message in the hearts of his listeners, but we can only imagine. Yes, there were some who had knowingly been doing something that went against God’s law, but more than that was an underlying belief that all this God stuff, as revealed in the Jewish law, was not real.
Now, don’t get me wrong…. This was a different culture to ours and all were very much believers in a spiritual reality, but just what that reality was and how it all worked had become rather confused with the customs, beliefs and traditions of the people around them. This chosen people were surrounded by Baal worship, the Roman gods, Greek philosophies and many forms of religion that we would deem to be sects, cults and even occultic. Just like today, many popular ideas became accepted that were not true to God’s revelation and we need only to see the differences between the Saducees and Pharisees to realize the varieties of popular thought, and or, confusion.
The call to repent was a call to acknowledge the error in thinking and believing as much, if not more so, than the actions of the individuals who repented. It is from our beliefs come our actions – and we find this confirmed by John’s words when he warns the pharisees and scribes to produce fruit in keeping with repentance…. In other words…. Show, by your actions, that you are “fair dinkum” about what you believe.
There is a question now for us. Do our actions show what we believe? Or… What do our actions tell people that we believe?
When we have pondered that, we need to then ask how can we pose this same message of John’s to our own community. What is it that we need to ask them to change their mind about?
In order to receive Christ, people in the year 2013 need to see the error of their thinking. They need to be convinced that they need Jesus in their lives. This is a generation that has everything they need in a physical sense and most things that they want so why would they want or see any need for God or Jesus in their lives?
Isaiah 11 tells us about the nature of Jesus and about the Good News that we, the church are meant to be proclaiming to the world:
Isaiah 11:1-5 “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the LORD— and he will delight in the fear of the LORD.
He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist.”
The “shoot from the stump of Jesse” refers to Jesus, as Jesse was the ancestor of Christ. We know that the Holy Spirit was with him and this same spirit he gives to us – we HAVE this Holy Spirit… and it is wisdom, understanding, counsel, might and knowledge…. It is a Spirit of insight which doesn't judge by outward appearances. It doesn't leave the homosexual outcast, but it doesn't condone evil as good either. It sees through the outer actions and perceives the heart, and it cares for the poor and is concerned with justice.
A long time ago when I made an adult Christian commitment, it came about through a church in Brisbane where I was awe struck on my first encounter with them because of the amazing mature wisdom of the youth. I’d never come across it before and sensed the hand of God beyond any doubt. I suspect that the group had no idea of the impression they made…. It was surely the Holy Spirit at work.
We need to so receive God and his Holy Spirit that we too shine with this Good News. There is hope for this world and this life and the life beyond, but it can only be found by REPENTING!! We need to repent of our beliefs that we can find wisdom and understanding, counsel and knowledge ANYWHERE else but through the Holy Spirit. It is true that there are pieces of wisdom in many places, but the gifts of wisdom, knowledge, understanding and counsel from God surpasses all.
This Sunday, I ask us all to see where we need to change our mind…. Where we need to acknowledge the supremacy of God and turn our lives around to reflect this.
Isaiah 11: 1-10 Psalm 72: 1-7, 18-19 Romans 15: 4-13 Matthew 3: 1-12
IT is the second Sunday of Advent. Our first Sunday message was to “wake up”, but this Sunday we look at what we need to do be prepared for the coming of Christ. We look at how people prepared for Jesus first coming, consider how to be prepared for his second coming, but most importantly we reflect on how to prepare or check for our own personal acceptance of Jesus in our lives .
Just before Jesus began his ministry there was this man we know as John the Baptist, who came and prepared the way for him. It is important that we look at what John did and what his message was because, in oh so many ways, this is what we need to be doing to prepare ourselves to receive Christ.
Matthew 3:1 “In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.””
This is how John prepared the way; he encouraged them that the Kingdom of heaven had come near and that the people should therefore repent.
We know that the kingdom of heaven had come near, because we know that God himself had taken on human flesh and been born as one of us. At this point in the story Jesus is believed to have been about 30 years old.
When we read the stories of the Bible we can make two possible mistakes. One mistake is to imagine that the people of the Bible times were nothing like us. The other mistake is to imagine that the people of the Bible were exactly like us. Somewhere in between is the truth. These were a people born in another place and time and into a culture that was very different from our own and yet these were flesh and blood people with hopes and dreams, ambitions and fears and desires – very much like us.
Just as the message would be pretty unpopular in our culture, I wonder how popular John’s message was when he urged the people to repent. If we look at more of the Bible stories we can see that the poorer and more humble of the people were very ready to accept that they were people who fell very short of the perfection of God and they were aware that they couldn't meet the requirements to be accepted by him. Even the Scribes and Pharisees, who were known for being self-righteous and indignant about their own goodness, came to John to be baptized and accepted his message of repentance.
In today’s society I’m pretty sure that if I proclaimed this same message of John the Baptist, I would most certainly offend and be condemned as a loony (no one believes that they fall short. I have met so many men who have told me how they are really good blokes and deserving of good things!!). But let us look at what this message really is and see if it is something we need to do today.
Firstly, has the kingdom of heaven near?
When Jesus came to earth we can understand that the kingdom of heaven had come near in a very real and tangible way, but Jesus then ascended to heaven. What has happened since then is that Jesus sent the promised Holy Spirit to his followers. The Holy Spirit is God in us. Yes the kingdom of heaven is nearer than ever, it is all around and among us. “Emmanuel” – GOD IS WITH US! (and Christmas (the celebration of God with us) is everyday!)
Now we need to look at the part of the message that urges us to repent. Do we need to repent and what really is repentance?
Often people think that repentance has to do with an intense feeling of remorse and self-loathing…. This is wrong! Repentance actually means to change your mind and go back another way. Essentially this is not about the emotions, but a very definite decision made by the intellect that we need to change our thinking.
Do we and the world around us in the year 2013 need to change our thinking?
Romans 15:4 “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.”
Does the world seem to be in need of hope? I think that the answer to this is so obvious that the question is really rhetorical. We learn from this letter to the Romans that all things written in scripture are written for our encouragement and to give us hope. If John the Baptist had a message that gave people hope some 2013 years ago then that same message is meant to provide even more encouragement and hope for today.
The people of John’s time were waiting for the “Messiah” (the anointed one who would reconcile humanity with God) and he seemed to be a long time in coming, and they’d all but given up. When John came with his message to repent we can’t possibly know the full extent of that message in the hearts of his listeners, but we can only imagine. Yes, there were some who had knowingly been doing something that went against God’s law, but more than that was an underlying belief that all this God stuff, as revealed in the Jewish law, was not real.
Now, don’t get me wrong…. This was a different culture to ours and all were very much believers in a spiritual reality, but just what that reality was and how it all worked had become rather confused with the customs, beliefs and traditions of the people around them. This chosen people were surrounded by Baal worship, the Roman gods, Greek philosophies and many forms of religion that we would deem to be sects, cults and even occultic. Just like today, many popular ideas became accepted that were not true to God’s revelation and we need only to see the differences between the Saducees and Pharisees to realize the varieties of popular thought, and or, confusion.
The call to repent was a call to acknowledge the error in thinking and believing as much, if not more so, than the actions of the individuals who repented. It is from our beliefs come our actions – and we find this confirmed by John’s words when he warns the pharisees and scribes to produce fruit in keeping with repentance…. In other words…. Show, by your actions, that you are “fair dinkum” about what you believe.
There is a question now for us. Do our actions show what we believe? Or… What do our actions tell people that we believe?
When we have pondered that, we need to then ask how can we pose this same message of John’s to our own community. What is it that we need to ask them to change their mind about?
In order to receive Christ, people in the year 2013 need to see the error of their thinking. They need to be convinced that they need Jesus in their lives. This is a generation that has everything they need in a physical sense and most things that they want so why would they want or see any need for God or Jesus in their lives?
Isaiah 11 tells us about the nature of Jesus and about the Good News that we, the church are meant to be proclaiming to the world:
Isaiah 11:1-5 “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the LORD— and he will delight in the fear of the LORD.
He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist.”
The “shoot from the stump of Jesse” refers to Jesus, as Jesse was the ancestor of Christ. We know that the Holy Spirit was with him and this same spirit he gives to us – we HAVE this Holy Spirit… and it is wisdom, understanding, counsel, might and knowledge…. It is a Spirit of insight which doesn't judge by outward appearances. It doesn't leave the homosexual outcast, but it doesn't condone evil as good either. It sees through the outer actions and perceives the heart, and it cares for the poor and is concerned with justice.
A long time ago when I made an adult Christian commitment, it came about through a church in Brisbane where I was awe struck on my first encounter with them because of the amazing mature wisdom of the youth. I’d never come across it before and sensed the hand of God beyond any doubt. I suspect that the group had no idea of the impression they made…. It was surely the Holy Spirit at work.
We need to so receive God and his Holy Spirit that we too shine with this Good News. There is hope for this world and this life and the life beyond, but it can only be found by REPENTING!! We need to repent of our beliefs that we can find wisdom and understanding, counsel and knowledge ANYWHERE else but through the Holy Spirit. It is true that there are pieces of wisdom in many places, but the gifts of wisdom, knowledge, understanding and counsel from God surpasses all.
This Sunday, I ask us all to see where we need to change our mind…. Where we need to acknowledge the supremacy of God and turn our lives around to reflect this.
Monday, November 25, 2013
Reflection ADVENT 1 December 1st 2013
Year A First Sunday of Advent 1 December 2013
Isaiah 2: 1-5 Psalm 122 Romans 13: 9-14 Matthew 24: 36-44
Extra, Extra, Read all about it! Once again it is ADVENT, and it is so exciting. We are all so crazy busy that we don’t know which way is up and the world seems to be spinning at a pace that literally makes us dizzy. When you are dizzy you cannot find or walk a straight path, and this is the physical, emotional and spiritual condition which many of us find ourselves in this crazy time.
The message of the readings at this point in our Church Calendar is, “WAKE UP”!!!!
Our dizziness has made us faint and we need to wake up from this faint and see the path clearly and walk it.
The Isaiah tells us a prophecy:
Isaiah 2:3a “Many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the temple of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.””
What I find so interesting about this reading is not just the actually prophecy but this desire that exists in the people to go up to the mountain of the Lord and learn his ways. I don’t know about your experience, but I don’t find that many people are keen to go to church to find out about God and his ways. BUT…. I do find that so many people are searching for truth. There are many kinds of truth that people get all tied up in and zealous about. Last week I talked about the prosperity doctrine, in the world there are many “self-improvement” ideologies People these days are also often zealous about food. More and more people are concerned about the kind of food we eat and the proof is found in our supermarkets where there are options for organic food and free range eggs etc… foods that are marked as vegetarian and then there are all kinds of dietary things going on like gluten free and lactose free and the many ideologies that go along with these.
We are living in a time where we should be healthier than we’ve ever been, smarter than we’ve ever been and many of us think that we are, but I do question this. We may have lactose free milk, but it is because our bodies can no longer handle the lactose and my body can no longer handle gluten. I can access all kinds of things on the internet, including much wisdom, but am I really any smarter? Much more conflicting information available just means I can justify almost anything I want to believe. I am bombarded with political correctness and so many of the moral values that were once held as sacred are now out there in the media as the complete opposite of that which I was brought up with.
If the reading from Isaiah is about the end times, and it is the end times when people say, “hey let’s go learn about God”…. I think that we have actually gone way past the end times…. Or else they are yet to come…. Perhaps there is yet to be a time when people will realize that with so many conflicting ideas comes major confusion and lies that placate our aching consciences. Perhaps people will actually begin to yearn for an absolute truth that is beyond our comfort zones, but the yearning will be so great that they will won’t to know the truth even if it convicts them of their own – dare I say that politically incorrect word – SIN.
The question I often pose, I will ask again; would you rather a lie that made you feel good or the truth that made you uncomfortable? A lie - or Truth???
It is time to wake up from our slumber. We’ve been squandering the wealth given us. What wealth is that??? The truth!
We’ve been given the truth. And the truth really is good news! Gospel is a word that used to have connotations of absolute truth, but Gospel actually literally means “Good News”. It is truth and the truth is GOOD NEWS! The Gospel is the message of the New Covenant that was put into being by Jesus. Our Roman’s reading exhorts us to be clothed in Christ. This is what the Good News is all about. The law of God was completed and fulfilled by Christ. When we are “clothed” in Christ (which is a part of our baptism), we take on the spiritual condition of Christ, which means we are totally accepted by God, regardless of the reality of our human condition.
Romans 13:11-12 “And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armour of light.”
Now, if we are to wake up and really live by the truth we need to actually live as though we believe the words of the Gospel and the words of this week’s Gospel tell us to keep watch.
Last night a friend told me about his experience in the defence force. While on training in the reserves he was told to keep watch and also he was told not to fire. As the night progressed he and one other person took turns at sleeping and keeping watch. He heard rustling and knew the enemy was approaching, but because he was told not to fire he didn’t know what he should do. He woke up the other person who also had no idea…. So they did nothing. In the end they were captured and because of their inaction the rest of the group and the group camped next out were all captured. It was only an exercise, but you can see the possible consequence if it had have been real.
Who was at fault? Well my friend was told it was his fault, but it seems obvious that there was a huge lack of proper education and understanding as to what actions to take which was really the fault of the trainer as much or more so, than my friend’s own inaction.
And this is my question for us; what education do you need for yourself, to be sure that you are properly equipped to be keeping watch for the coming of the Lord?
In the New Testament we find that teachers of God’s way, will be held accountable and we know that in the Old Testament that the prophets were held accountable for speaking or not speaking God’s word. If the prophet didn’t give the message then his was the fault, but if he gave the people God’s message and the people didn’t respond, then they were held accountable.
If you are a Christian but not reading God’s word and not involved in the Christian church, YOU are going to be held accountable for squandering the wealth of God’s truth. You will be caught out on the “day of the Lord” because you were asleep. This is what I think is the prime message for this first Sunday in ADVENT…. The time of preparation…. It starts with waking up.
Matthew 24:42-44 ““Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”
Isaiah 2: 1-5 Psalm 122 Romans 13: 9-14 Matthew 24: 36-44
Extra, Extra, Read all about it! Once again it is ADVENT, and it is so exciting. We are all so crazy busy that we don’t know which way is up and the world seems to be spinning at a pace that literally makes us dizzy. When you are dizzy you cannot find or walk a straight path, and this is the physical, emotional and spiritual condition which many of us find ourselves in this crazy time.
The message of the readings at this point in our Church Calendar is, “WAKE UP”!!!!
Our dizziness has made us faint and we need to wake up from this faint and see the path clearly and walk it.
The Isaiah tells us a prophecy:
Isaiah 2:3a “Many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the temple of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.””
What I find so interesting about this reading is not just the actually prophecy but this desire that exists in the people to go up to the mountain of the Lord and learn his ways. I don’t know about your experience, but I don’t find that many people are keen to go to church to find out about God and his ways. BUT…. I do find that so many people are searching for truth. There are many kinds of truth that people get all tied up in and zealous about. Last week I talked about the prosperity doctrine, in the world there are many “self-improvement” ideologies People these days are also often zealous about food. More and more people are concerned about the kind of food we eat and the proof is found in our supermarkets where there are options for organic food and free range eggs etc… foods that are marked as vegetarian and then there are all kinds of dietary things going on like gluten free and lactose free and the many ideologies that go along with these.
We are living in a time where we should be healthier than we’ve ever been, smarter than we’ve ever been and many of us think that we are, but I do question this. We may have lactose free milk, but it is because our bodies can no longer handle the lactose and my body can no longer handle gluten. I can access all kinds of things on the internet, including much wisdom, but am I really any smarter? Much more conflicting information available just means I can justify almost anything I want to believe. I am bombarded with political correctness and so many of the moral values that were once held as sacred are now out there in the media as the complete opposite of that which I was brought up with.
If the reading from Isaiah is about the end times, and it is the end times when people say, “hey let’s go learn about God”…. I think that we have actually gone way past the end times…. Or else they are yet to come…. Perhaps there is yet to be a time when people will realize that with so many conflicting ideas comes major confusion and lies that placate our aching consciences. Perhaps people will actually begin to yearn for an absolute truth that is beyond our comfort zones, but the yearning will be so great that they will won’t to know the truth even if it convicts them of their own – dare I say that politically incorrect word – SIN.
The question I often pose, I will ask again; would you rather a lie that made you feel good or the truth that made you uncomfortable? A lie - or Truth???
It is time to wake up from our slumber. We’ve been squandering the wealth given us. What wealth is that??? The truth!
We’ve been given the truth. And the truth really is good news! Gospel is a word that used to have connotations of absolute truth, but Gospel actually literally means “Good News”. It is truth and the truth is GOOD NEWS! The Gospel is the message of the New Covenant that was put into being by Jesus. Our Roman’s reading exhorts us to be clothed in Christ. This is what the Good News is all about. The law of God was completed and fulfilled by Christ. When we are “clothed” in Christ (which is a part of our baptism), we take on the spiritual condition of Christ, which means we are totally accepted by God, regardless of the reality of our human condition.
Romans 13:11-12 “And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armour of light.”
Now, if we are to wake up and really live by the truth we need to actually live as though we believe the words of the Gospel and the words of this week’s Gospel tell us to keep watch.
Last night a friend told me about his experience in the defence force. While on training in the reserves he was told to keep watch and also he was told not to fire. As the night progressed he and one other person took turns at sleeping and keeping watch. He heard rustling and knew the enemy was approaching, but because he was told not to fire he didn’t know what he should do. He woke up the other person who also had no idea…. So they did nothing. In the end they were captured and because of their inaction the rest of the group and the group camped next out were all captured. It was only an exercise, but you can see the possible consequence if it had have been real.
Who was at fault? Well my friend was told it was his fault, but it seems obvious that there was a huge lack of proper education and understanding as to what actions to take which was really the fault of the trainer as much or more so, than my friend’s own inaction.
And this is my question for us; what education do you need for yourself, to be sure that you are properly equipped to be keeping watch for the coming of the Lord?
In the New Testament we find that teachers of God’s way, will be held accountable and we know that in the Old Testament that the prophets were held accountable for speaking or not speaking God’s word. If the prophet didn’t give the message then his was the fault, but if he gave the people God’s message and the people didn’t respond, then they were held accountable.
If you are a Christian but not reading God’s word and not involved in the Christian church, YOU are going to be held accountable for squandering the wealth of God’s truth. You will be caught out on the “day of the Lord” because you were asleep. This is what I think is the prime message for this first Sunday in ADVENT…. The time of preparation…. It starts with waking up.
Matthew 24:42-44 ““Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”
Saturday, November 16, 2013
Reflection for 17th November 2013
Year C Proper 28 17 November 2013
Isaiah 65: 17-25 Isaiah 12 2 Thessalonians 3: 6-13 Luke 21: 5-19
The Gospel reading for this week flies in the face of a prosperity doctrine. A prosperity doctrine, for the uninitiated, is one where the followers claim that the Good news about Jesus Christ is this: Believe in God and follow him and all good things will happen. You will become prosperous in all that you do if only you do God’s will.
It sounds great in theory, but life is more complicated. And just between me and you, a prosperity doctrine is an offense to those of us who follow Christ and have had bad things happen, as it invites judgment as it questions why, and “why do bad things happen?” is a question that much of the Bible deals with.
A Prosperity Gospel is a popular Gospel in our “Me” society. We would like to think that we should be rewarded supernaturally in a physical way for our faith in God, and we would like to think that those who do not have faith would be frustrated in their endeavours. But this is not the way things are.
Isaiah 65: 19-20 “ I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people; the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more. “Never again will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his years;”
There are so many scripture passages that speak of the redemption of God’s people and our first reading is one of these. It speaks about the wonderful things that God will do, but if we read between the lines we will understand that God proclaims these things because the reality of life is very different.
We read Isaiah prophesise that there will be no weeping or crying. He proclaims this because in his experience and ours, there is much weeping and crying. Isaiah also says there will no longer be an infant who lives but a few days. He says this because in life there are infants who are born, wonderful gifts of life, only to have that life cut so very short. Isaiah also speaks of the old living out their days. The reality of our life is that many die who do not live to see their grandchildren or great grandchildren and that gift of life is taken away.
A prosperity doctrine is karma re-invented. Karma is the idea that we get what we deserve. So that would mean that if we are good people who follow God then we will be rewarded with physical signs of God’s favour which will communicate to all that we are favoured by God. But this is not the way our God works and it is simply not the truth about life.
I’m sure we all know of people who we think are so good and wonderful, but then some tragedy strikes.
Luke 21:12 “But before all this, they will seize you and persecute you. They will hand you over to synagogues and put you in prison, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name.”
Here is the reality of the Gospel. Don’t get me wrong, the Gospel is truly good news, but we cannot deny that this is the reality of those who follow God. Why were these early followers of Jesus put out of synagogues or thrown in prison? I’m fairly sure it wasn’t because of their ability to bow to the societal conventions of their time. In a religion where keeping the law of God was the way to God’s favour, these people proclaimed the grace of God where the only sacrifice demanded was that one which had already been accomplished, made by Jesus on the cross.
“You will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name.” Have you ever been brought to account for the faith you have in God. Perhaps I should put it this way; if you could go to jail for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?
So many people do really and truly have faith in God and have really and truly accepted the Good News and the sacrifice of Jesus, but think that there ends the need to do anything else. We now need to look at the message that St. Paul writes to the Thessalonians:
2 Thessalonians 3:8-9 “….we worked night and day, labouring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you to imitate.”
When we speak of the Good News of the Gospel we proclaim that it is a message about Grace (God’s undeserved favour) and that all one needs to do to be “saved”, (ie. Become one of Gods people and “right” with God), is to accept the sacrificial gift of Jesus and believe in him, confessing him as Lord. Essentially this is an intellectual acknowledgement, but here we read the exhortation to imitate those who evangelised the Gospel by the way they lived their whole life.
It gets a little tricky trying to explain how our actions need to match our beliefs because we need to first understand fully that we are not saved by these works, but only by the GRACE of God. Yet I must pose the question; do our actions match our belief in God? If we do truly believe in God and the message of the Gospel why are we so blasé about the state of our churches? Why are we not promoting and proclaiming the Good News? Why is the church diminishing in number?
I wonder if most of us have actually been living in the false convictions of the prosperity Gospel…. Living by the law of Karma instead of the grace of God. That is; “I’m a pretty good person and I believe in God, therefore I deserve to be rewarded”.
You know that if we lived by the law of Karma we’d be in big trouble because pretty much all of us break the absolute greatest commandment. Yep, you heard me. Most people will think they keep God’s commands because they treat other people well, ie… loving others as ourselves. News Flash!! That is the 2nd greatest command. The first is to love God with all your heart, mind and soul. Therefore, it is awesome great news that God’s grace means that none of us get what we actually deserve, but by being clothed in Christ we receive the blessings that Christ deserves.
Now, we need to note that on this earth Christ was crucified. It is a fact of life that if we are his followers there will sometimes be conflict and even persecution.
Luke 21: 16 – 19 “You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers and sisters, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. Everyone will hate you because of me. But not a hair of your head will perish. Stand firm, and you will win life.”
These horrible things may happen to us simply for being Christian.
If we are following a false Gospel we will be omitting these realities of life on planet earth and always looking for the path of least resistance and personally I really like the path of least resistance. Don’t get me wrong, if we are in a time of blessing we should rejoice and relish that time, understanding that it is a gift and let it refresh us as we prepare to stand firm in the knowledge and grace of God no matter what happens.
We need to know, beyond any shadow of doubt that God cares passionately and grieves when we are grieving and hurts when we are hurting. In our reading from Isaiah we get a sense of this and we read about the promises for a better life where there will truly be no weeping, but for now we need to stand firm and get real about what we believe.
The Christian life is tough. Will you live it, or opt out?
Isaiah 65: 17-25 Isaiah 12 2 Thessalonians 3: 6-13 Luke 21: 5-19
The Gospel reading for this week flies in the face of a prosperity doctrine. A prosperity doctrine, for the uninitiated, is one where the followers claim that the Good news about Jesus Christ is this: Believe in God and follow him and all good things will happen. You will become prosperous in all that you do if only you do God’s will.
It sounds great in theory, but life is more complicated. And just between me and you, a prosperity doctrine is an offense to those of us who follow Christ and have had bad things happen, as it invites judgment as it questions why, and “why do bad things happen?” is a question that much of the Bible deals with.
A Prosperity Gospel is a popular Gospel in our “Me” society. We would like to think that we should be rewarded supernaturally in a physical way for our faith in God, and we would like to think that those who do not have faith would be frustrated in their endeavours. But this is not the way things are.
Isaiah 65: 19-20 “ I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people; the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more. “Never again will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his years;”
There are so many scripture passages that speak of the redemption of God’s people and our first reading is one of these. It speaks about the wonderful things that God will do, but if we read between the lines we will understand that God proclaims these things because the reality of life is very different.
We read Isaiah prophesise that there will be no weeping or crying. He proclaims this because in his experience and ours, there is much weeping and crying. Isaiah also says there will no longer be an infant who lives but a few days. He says this because in life there are infants who are born, wonderful gifts of life, only to have that life cut so very short. Isaiah also speaks of the old living out their days. The reality of our life is that many die who do not live to see their grandchildren or great grandchildren and that gift of life is taken away.
A prosperity doctrine is karma re-invented. Karma is the idea that we get what we deserve. So that would mean that if we are good people who follow God then we will be rewarded with physical signs of God’s favour which will communicate to all that we are favoured by God. But this is not the way our God works and it is simply not the truth about life.
I’m sure we all know of people who we think are so good and wonderful, but then some tragedy strikes.
Luke 21:12 “But before all this, they will seize you and persecute you. They will hand you over to synagogues and put you in prison, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name.”
Here is the reality of the Gospel. Don’t get me wrong, the Gospel is truly good news, but we cannot deny that this is the reality of those who follow God. Why were these early followers of Jesus put out of synagogues or thrown in prison? I’m fairly sure it wasn’t because of their ability to bow to the societal conventions of their time. In a religion where keeping the law of God was the way to God’s favour, these people proclaimed the grace of God where the only sacrifice demanded was that one which had already been accomplished, made by Jesus on the cross.
“You will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name.” Have you ever been brought to account for the faith you have in God. Perhaps I should put it this way; if you could go to jail for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?
So many people do really and truly have faith in God and have really and truly accepted the Good News and the sacrifice of Jesus, but think that there ends the need to do anything else. We now need to look at the message that St. Paul writes to the Thessalonians:
2 Thessalonians 3:8-9 “….we worked night and day, labouring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you to imitate.”
When we speak of the Good News of the Gospel we proclaim that it is a message about Grace (God’s undeserved favour) and that all one needs to do to be “saved”, (ie. Become one of Gods people and “right” with God), is to accept the sacrificial gift of Jesus and believe in him, confessing him as Lord. Essentially this is an intellectual acknowledgement, but here we read the exhortation to imitate those who evangelised the Gospel by the way they lived their whole life.
It gets a little tricky trying to explain how our actions need to match our beliefs because we need to first understand fully that we are not saved by these works, but only by the GRACE of God. Yet I must pose the question; do our actions match our belief in God? If we do truly believe in God and the message of the Gospel why are we so blasé about the state of our churches? Why are we not promoting and proclaiming the Good News? Why is the church diminishing in number?
I wonder if most of us have actually been living in the false convictions of the prosperity Gospel…. Living by the law of Karma instead of the grace of God. That is; “I’m a pretty good person and I believe in God, therefore I deserve to be rewarded”.
You know that if we lived by the law of Karma we’d be in big trouble because pretty much all of us break the absolute greatest commandment. Yep, you heard me. Most people will think they keep God’s commands because they treat other people well, ie… loving others as ourselves. News Flash!! That is the 2nd greatest command. The first is to love God with all your heart, mind and soul. Therefore, it is awesome great news that God’s grace means that none of us get what we actually deserve, but by being clothed in Christ we receive the blessings that Christ deserves.
Now, we need to note that on this earth Christ was crucified. It is a fact of life that if we are his followers there will sometimes be conflict and even persecution.
Luke 21: 16 – 19 “You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers and sisters, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. Everyone will hate you because of me. But not a hair of your head will perish. Stand firm, and you will win life.”
These horrible things may happen to us simply for being Christian.
If we are following a false Gospel we will be omitting these realities of life on planet earth and always looking for the path of least resistance and personally I really like the path of least resistance. Don’t get me wrong, if we are in a time of blessing we should rejoice and relish that time, understanding that it is a gift and let it refresh us as we prepare to stand firm in the knowledge and grace of God no matter what happens.
We need to know, beyond any shadow of doubt that God cares passionately and grieves when we are grieving and hurts when we are hurting. In our reading from Isaiah we get a sense of this and we read about the promises for a better life where there will truly be no weeping, but for now we need to stand firm and get real about what we believe.
The Christian life is tough. Will you live it, or opt out?
Monday, September 16, 2013
Reflection for 22nd Sept 2013
Year C Proper 20 19 September 2010
Jeremiah 8:18 - 9:1 Psalm 79: 1-9 1 Timothy 2: 1-7 or 1 Timothy 3:14-4:6 Luke 16: 1-13
I have a shameful confession. Although I hate the idea of reality shows and especially Big Brother, I’ve been suckered into watching recently. Last night a man was voted out, who grabbed my attention. Matt, was a soldier and had served overseas at least twice. He was not very reactionary and wasn’t bothered by the lack of niceties that bothered some of the other house mates. His experiences obviously shaped his attitude, and this is interestingly related to the readings for this week.
Just to give you the overall picture of the readings; the first reading is a lament over the state of affairs in which Israel is in captivity, but more than that, it is a cry from someone who has long been in captivity and expecting the saving hand of God, but the time for rescue seems to have come and gone with no hope in sight.
The Psalm continues the lament and shares the reality that rescue is long overdue. The 2nd reading which is a letter from St. Paul to Timothy gives instructions about praying for the nation and about conduct that will be found in the last days when people have given up on God because he seems so long in responding.
All these readings portray hope deferred and the broken-heartedness that comes as a result, but our Gospel reading is a little different and somewhat puzzling. It is the story of a manager of a rich man’s house, who is accused of mishandling things and about to lose his job. He decided that he needed to ensure his place in the hearts of people just in case he was cast out, so he goes about reducing the bills owing to his master, thus endearing him to his master debtors, but also bringing payment to his master. He is commended and Jesus even seems to commend the shrew manager.
Luke 16:8- 13 ““The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.
“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?
“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
It is a most puzzling Gospel reading, but in light of the other readings perhaps we can start to understand what message there is for us.
I suspect this was as radical a statement in Jesus time as it seems to us today. After all, aren’t we taught that to be God’s people we must be completely honest and aren’t we also taught that we are not to chase after wealth…. ??? The last part of the reading where it says that no one can serve two masters and, you cannot serve both God and money, is the only part that we feel comfortable with. So what is going on here?
The audience of Jesus contained the Pharisees who were concerned about money and wealth. This parable had them deriding Jesus, so it is clear that they were not impressed, which also tells me that they understood the meaning of the parable without explanation, but we need a little help.
Our lives revolve around money. Our status and self-identity are often tied up in our finances. The religious of Jesus day were people of status and, it would seem, people of wealth. God ensured wealth for the priests by making provisions for them in his law, but instead of this being a means to contentment, it became something that they coveted and something that they used to lord over the people.
There have been people who’ve taken vows of poverty because they assume that is the requirement of God. There have also been people who have preached prosperity because they believe that is what God does for us. Each group have their pet verses on their leash to display to any who question their way of living. Both are right and both are wrong.
In the Big Brother house this year there were two sections. One section was called the half-way house. Everything was smaller, meals were reduced, and every luxury was halved. Matt, from Big Brother, showed and told the viewers that he was content just to have a roof over his head. It didn’t bother him. He knew he wasn’t starving and he knew that he was safe. When he was sent on overseas service as a member of the defence force he didn’t know if he would come back alive. His experience shaped his priorities and his need for luxury was put into perspective. When he had luxuries he enjoyed them, when he didn’t he was still content because really, all was well.
This is what we need to learn about the kingdom of God.
God does delight in providing for us and I believe that just like a parent, he delights in giving very, very good gifts. But it is important for us to understand that there is a plan for God’s kingdom on earth and as part of that we may live our lives in discomfort of all kinds. You need only to read the book of Job to know that this is true, and to know that God loves to give lavishly you need only to read about the life of King David and King Solomon.
The shrewd manager used wealth to achieve a purpose. Here is the point of the parable. Wealth is like the Sabbath. It has a purpose and that purpose is for Good, but if we do not understand God and his Grace we will continue to get it out of order and the created thing, instead of being a tool, becomes a God.
1 Timothy 3:4 “The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth. For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.”
From the letter to Timothy we see the potential for the same mistake. We humans strive to get it right, but get it wrong if we aim to live by a black and white law of God. The Pharisees were experts at trying to get it so right that they got it wrong. Under the Old Covenant there were foods that were off limits and there were rules about who could marry who. But the New Covenant is a better covenant only if we live it by the same way that we received it – which is by faith and by the spirit of God alive in us.
Just as Matt from Big Brother had his attitude shaped from his experience, the shrewd manager had his attitude shaped from his experiences, and the threat of a life on the streets begging motivated his actions. We find that our reading from Jeremiah shows us a people who are also shaped from their experiences, that of being in captivity and long overdue for rescue.
This maybe where we are at now; way overdue for rescue….. “Where are you Lord?”. The tendency at these times is to oscillate between the extremes of being just like the world and trusting in our wealth to save us, or legalistically follow the law of God in the hope that this will ensure his blessing. Both of these are wrong.
We need to understand that we live in a materialistic world yet not be mastered by it. Our priority in our life must be that to which God has called us. That life to which God has called us is sure to involve some element of working with money, but it must always be the tool and not the object.
Another often misquoted text from the letter to Timothy is that of women not dressing with elaborate hairstyles etc… but instead being dressed with good deeds. People have often taken this to mean that woman shouldn’t dress in a particular way, yet we read in the Old Testament about the lavishness of those in the court of King David and King Solomon. Clearly lavishness is not the problem, but attitude is. Whether God has blessed us with the lavish – which living in Australia is often the case, or whether our lives are modest, we need to live with eternity in mind.
Our priorities need to be in keeping with the reality that this is not our only reality, but that there is a bigger reality of our spiritual life which will endure beyond this life. We, like the manager, will be called before God to give an account of how we have managed that which he has entrusted to us. In what ways have we been faithful stewards of that which he has given us, and what he has called us to do?
How will we fare?
Jeremiah 8:18 - 9:1 Psalm 79: 1-9 1 Timothy 2: 1-7 or 1 Timothy 3:14-4:6 Luke 16: 1-13
I have a shameful confession. Although I hate the idea of reality shows and especially Big Brother, I’ve been suckered into watching recently. Last night a man was voted out, who grabbed my attention. Matt, was a soldier and had served overseas at least twice. He was not very reactionary and wasn’t bothered by the lack of niceties that bothered some of the other house mates. His experiences obviously shaped his attitude, and this is interestingly related to the readings for this week.
Just to give you the overall picture of the readings; the first reading is a lament over the state of affairs in which Israel is in captivity, but more than that, it is a cry from someone who has long been in captivity and expecting the saving hand of God, but the time for rescue seems to have come and gone with no hope in sight.
The Psalm continues the lament and shares the reality that rescue is long overdue. The 2nd reading which is a letter from St. Paul to Timothy gives instructions about praying for the nation and about conduct that will be found in the last days when people have given up on God because he seems so long in responding.
All these readings portray hope deferred and the broken-heartedness that comes as a result, but our Gospel reading is a little different and somewhat puzzling. It is the story of a manager of a rich man’s house, who is accused of mishandling things and about to lose his job. He decided that he needed to ensure his place in the hearts of people just in case he was cast out, so he goes about reducing the bills owing to his master, thus endearing him to his master debtors, but also bringing payment to his master. He is commended and Jesus even seems to commend the shrew manager.
Luke 16:8- 13 ““The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.
“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?
“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
It is a most puzzling Gospel reading, but in light of the other readings perhaps we can start to understand what message there is for us.
I suspect this was as radical a statement in Jesus time as it seems to us today. After all, aren’t we taught that to be God’s people we must be completely honest and aren’t we also taught that we are not to chase after wealth…. ??? The last part of the reading where it says that no one can serve two masters and, you cannot serve both God and money, is the only part that we feel comfortable with. So what is going on here?
The audience of Jesus contained the Pharisees who were concerned about money and wealth. This parable had them deriding Jesus, so it is clear that they were not impressed, which also tells me that they understood the meaning of the parable without explanation, but we need a little help.
Our lives revolve around money. Our status and self-identity are often tied up in our finances. The religious of Jesus day were people of status and, it would seem, people of wealth. God ensured wealth for the priests by making provisions for them in his law, but instead of this being a means to contentment, it became something that they coveted and something that they used to lord over the people.
There have been people who’ve taken vows of poverty because they assume that is the requirement of God. There have also been people who have preached prosperity because they believe that is what God does for us. Each group have their pet verses on their leash to display to any who question their way of living. Both are right and both are wrong.
In the Big Brother house this year there were two sections. One section was called the half-way house. Everything was smaller, meals were reduced, and every luxury was halved. Matt, from Big Brother, showed and told the viewers that he was content just to have a roof over his head. It didn’t bother him. He knew he wasn’t starving and he knew that he was safe. When he was sent on overseas service as a member of the defence force he didn’t know if he would come back alive. His experience shaped his priorities and his need for luxury was put into perspective. When he had luxuries he enjoyed them, when he didn’t he was still content because really, all was well.
This is what we need to learn about the kingdom of God.
God does delight in providing for us and I believe that just like a parent, he delights in giving very, very good gifts. But it is important for us to understand that there is a plan for God’s kingdom on earth and as part of that we may live our lives in discomfort of all kinds. You need only to read the book of Job to know that this is true, and to know that God loves to give lavishly you need only to read about the life of King David and King Solomon.
The shrewd manager used wealth to achieve a purpose. Here is the point of the parable. Wealth is like the Sabbath. It has a purpose and that purpose is for Good, but if we do not understand God and his Grace we will continue to get it out of order and the created thing, instead of being a tool, becomes a God.
1 Timothy 3:4 “The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth. For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.”
From the letter to Timothy we see the potential for the same mistake. We humans strive to get it right, but get it wrong if we aim to live by a black and white law of God. The Pharisees were experts at trying to get it so right that they got it wrong. Under the Old Covenant there were foods that were off limits and there were rules about who could marry who. But the New Covenant is a better covenant only if we live it by the same way that we received it – which is by faith and by the spirit of God alive in us.
Just as Matt from Big Brother had his attitude shaped from his experience, the shrewd manager had his attitude shaped from his experiences, and the threat of a life on the streets begging motivated his actions. We find that our reading from Jeremiah shows us a people who are also shaped from their experiences, that of being in captivity and long overdue for rescue.
This maybe where we are at now; way overdue for rescue….. “Where are you Lord?”. The tendency at these times is to oscillate between the extremes of being just like the world and trusting in our wealth to save us, or legalistically follow the law of God in the hope that this will ensure his blessing. Both of these are wrong.
We need to understand that we live in a materialistic world yet not be mastered by it. Our priority in our life must be that to which God has called us. That life to which God has called us is sure to involve some element of working with money, but it must always be the tool and not the object.
Another often misquoted text from the letter to Timothy is that of women not dressing with elaborate hairstyles etc… but instead being dressed with good deeds. People have often taken this to mean that woman shouldn’t dress in a particular way, yet we read in the Old Testament about the lavishness of those in the court of King David and King Solomon. Clearly lavishness is not the problem, but attitude is. Whether God has blessed us with the lavish – which living in Australia is often the case, or whether our lives are modest, we need to live with eternity in mind.
Our priorities need to be in keeping with the reality that this is not our only reality, but that there is a bigger reality of our spiritual life which will endure beyond this life. We, like the manager, will be called before God to give an account of how we have managed that which he has entrusted to us. In what ways have we been faithful stewards of that which he has given us, and what he has called us to do?
How will we fare?
Thursday, August 8, 2013
Reflection on Readings for proper 14, 12th sunday after Pentecost 11 August 2013
Year C Proper 14 11 August 2013
Isaiah 1: 1, 10-20 Psalm 50: 1-8, 22-23 Hebrews 11: 1-3, 8-16 Luke 12: 32-40
Luke 12:34 “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
When I read that sentence from this week’s Gospel reading I wonder what my treasure is and what it is that I treasure. There are many things that I treasure and I wonder if other people can tell even more clearly than I, where my treasure lies.
This previous weekend I was somewhat upset with myself. I was working on Friday night and so I had to pass on my job of helping at the kids club to someone else. Admittedly, I had prepared the story and on my way to my work gig, I set up the data projector with the story loaded and ready to go, but I felt a bit like I was putting my gig in front of my responsibility to God.
The weekend progressed and I worked again on Saturday night, which meant that I didn’t get to church. It also meant that I wasn’t able to provide the music for the Saturday night service and I was grieved because it seems that I will be missing most Saturday nights this month and I feel I’m letting the church and God down.
But wait…there is more… After two late nights I slept in. When I woke and realized that I’d already missed church I went back to sleep again…. I did have a lot of sleep to catch up and had been fighting off that flu that kept threatening me. I planned to visit another church that night, but I wasn’t feeling well and had a basketball game in the afternoon, which was pushing me physically and emotionally over the edge. I just went home and felt sorry for myself and guilty.
What was really bothering me was that I have always had a strong commitment to church and lately it seemed that maybe my treasure was simply selfish me.
I remember hearing people say, “you have to have time for yourself”… “a little “Me” time”! It’s a bit of a catch phrase and an indication of a couple of things; one, that we have pretty hectic lives, and two – really I think in this modern day our only treasure is ourselves. I hear from nurses how sad it is that many sick people don’t have families to care for them – they are all too busy with their own lives and caring for someone else that they claim to love is not possible – and I’m not talking about long term sick elderly people, I’m talking about those who’ve had an operation and need support just until they recover.
If we look to our Old Testament readings we find that God seems to be confusing, because after prescribing the various intricacies of the sacrifices he then seems to not want them.
Isaiah 1:13-17 “Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations— I cannot bear your worthless assemblies. Your New Moon feasts and your appointed festivals I hate with all my being. They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands in prayer, I hide my eyes from you; even when you offer many prayers, I am not listening. Your hands are full of blood! Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight; stop doing wrong. Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.”
What can we discern that the ancient Israelites were treasuring?
It outwardly would seem that God was their treasure.
There were outward signs, which other nations could easily see, and a visitor to the area would also say the same, “Oh how these Israelites love God! Just look at how particular they are about making sacrifices to the Lord.” When there was a new moon they made it a holy festival to the Lord and they were fastidious about the Sabbaths. They were a very religious nation.
Sometimes we need to be careful about how we judge from outward appearances, because God saw big trouble in the hearts of these very dedicated and religious people. Yes they kept the Sabbaths, but they neglected to understand the heart of God. They failed to understand that if any of God’s people were hurting then God couldn’t care less about the Sabbath. He cared about wiping the tears of the one in trouble.
The people just didn’t get it. And I fear that neither do we.
I hate that I missed church this weekend, but I know that it is really “no skin off God’s nose”. He is not a God who needs me to be at church…. I am a person who needs the nourishment that I get from church. Can you see the difference and the implications? This is why Jesus said that the Sabbath was made for mankind and not mankind for the Sabbath. It was never meant to be a religious requirement to appease a wrathful God, but a gift to enable mankind to refresh and maintain proper perspective about things like caring for one another.
Now there is another very important aspect that I must discuss. The Israelites were fastidious in keeping God’s law because they knew that in keeping his law they would be blessed…. And they sure did want His blessing. So I ask you again, where do you think their treasure was?
Very much like us when we neglect God’s ways because we need a little “me” time, the Israelites were their own treasure. They treasured themselves and if keeping the Sabbath and the festivals meant that God would bless them than that is what they would do. They kept the Sabbath because they thought that keeping the Sabbath would give them supernatural blessing. And God was exhausted with them.
It is a pretty natural and human thing to bargain with God. That is what the Israelites were doing. Basically they were saying, “If I do this for God, then he will bless me”. I remember bargaining with God once. I probably have done it in various ways at various times but certainly the most striking example is when I was expecting my first child and was bleeding. I did so much bargaining with God. All to no avail and I eventually miscarried and probably learnt a valuable lesson. God is God and he is merciful and wants to bless us, but his blessing is not dependant on our good works, but his blessings are simply dependant on his love and sovereignty.
Christianity is not like any other religion, unless we miss the point. When we miss the point we do what the ancient Israelites did and turn the Good News into religion. In every religion there is a list of dos and don’ts and Christianity can easily fall into this same way. But that isn’t the way that God wants it to be. The reason that we have the Holy Spirit is so that we can understand that we have no set of rules, but instead we have a relationship with the God who created us. With His Holy Spirit in us we have his law in our heart, and his is a law of love and care and concern.
I have a job which means that I’m going to be working often on weekends. Shift workers are the same, doctors and ambulance men and nurses, just to name a few. While it should be obvious to others that our treasure is God, it should be obvious to them because of our Christ-like heart and not because of our business in religious activity.
Luke 12: 35,36 ““Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him.”
The service that we need to be doing might be very different from what you’ve previously thought. If you have thought, “I don’t need to be in Church to be a Christian and I do lots of caring for others, so I’m fine by God”; you have missed the point. And on the flip side if you are very active in Church activities and functions but don’t reach out to others around you, who may need no more than your friendship, you’ve also missed the point. Our life in Church and our interactions with those outside of church go hand in hand.
Our New Testament reading from Hebrews gives us examples of people who were commended for their faith. These are people who were in communion with God and when God told them to leave their comfort zone they did. More than that, when these people left that comfort zone, they didn’t see the blessing. Yes, you read correctly… they DIDN’T see the blessing. They obeyed God, but for years and years they could not see the fruit of God’s blessing.
Hebrews 11:13-16 “All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.”
My eldest daughter has left to live in Cairns. She is working and going to University there. I sent her a little gift a couple of weeks ago and sent her another little one this week.
We are called to be the children of God and our treasure is that city that he has prepared for us, but in his mercy he does bless us along the way, but it isn’t because of our Good Works. It is because of his great love and his RELATIONSHIP with us.
I would hope that my daughter is old enough that she won’t treasure the silly little gifts I send her, but instead she will realize that the gifts are a sign of my love and my commitment to be in a relationship with her. And I assume that it is the relationship that she will treasure.
In the same way, it is our RELATIONSHIP with God that we are to treasure above all…. Not the doing of things for him so that we can feel justified, or the keeping of God’s law so that we can treasure his blessings.
I remember having friends who, when rumours were going around about me, I thought they would know better and never believe such craziness. I assumed that because of our relationship they would understand what was really going on – but they didn’t and it seemed that what I thought was a real relationship, was actually only a superficial one - what a disappointment!
Just like you do a close friend, a parent or child, with whom you really do understand and treasure, we need to realize that God’s greatest desire is for us to understand his heart and have a real relationship with him. Understanding His heart will mean that we will act with compassion in areas we may not have thought about previously, or cry out for justice in other areas, or stand up for the greater good somewhere else. And so, with this in mind, where is your treasure? Is it in your relationship with God?
Isaiah 1: 1, 10-20 Psalm 50: 1-8, 22-23 Hebrews 11: 1-3, 8-16 Luke 12: 32-40
Luke 12:34 “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
When I read that sentence from this week’s Gospel reading I wonder what my treasure is and what it is that I treasure. There are many things that I treasure and I wonder if other people can tell even more clearly than I, where my treasure lies.
This previous weekend I was somewhat upset with myself. I was working on Friday night and so I had to pass on my job of helping at the kids club to someone else. Admittedly, I had prepared the story and on my way to my work gig, I set up the data projector with the story loaded and ready to go, but I felt a bit like I was putting my gig in front of my responsibility to God.
The weekend progressed and I worked again on Saturday night, which meant that I didn’t get to church. It also meant that I wasn’t able to provide the music for the Saturday night service and I was grieved because it seems that I will be missing most Saturday nights this month and I feel I’m letting the church and God down.
But wait…there is more… After two late nights I slept in. When I woke and realized that I’d already missed church I went back to sleep again…. I did have a lot of sleep to catch up and had been fighting off that flu that kept threatening me. I planned to visit another church that night, but I wasn’t feeling well and had a basketball game in the afternoon, which was pushing me physically and emotionally over the edge. I just went home and felt sorry for myself and guilty.
What was really bothering me was that I have always had a strong commitment to church and lately it seemed that maybe my treasure was simply selfish me.
I remember hearing people say, “you have to have time for yourself”… “a little “Me” time”! It’s a bit of a catch phrase and an indication of a couple of things; one, that we have pretty hectic lives, and two – really I think in this modern day our only treasure is ourselves. I hear from nurses how sad it is that many sick people don’t have families to care for them – they are all too busy with their own lives and caring for someone else that they claim to love is not possible – and I’m not talking about long term sick elderly people, I’m talking about those who’ve had an operation and need support just until they recover.
If we look to our Old Testament readings we find that God seems to be confusing, because after prescribing the various intricacies of the sacrifices he then seems to not want them.
Isaiah 1:13-17 “Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations— I cannot bear your worthless assemblies. Your New Moon feasts and your appointed festivals I hate with all my being. They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands in prayer, I hide my eyes from you; even when you offer many prayers, I am not listening. Your hands are full of blood! Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight; stop doing wrong. Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.”
What can we discern that the ancient Israelites were treasuring?
It outwardly would seem that God was their treasure.
There were outward signs, which other nations could easily see, and a visitor to the area would also say the same, “Oh how these Israelites love God! Just look at how particular they are about making sacrifices to the Lord.” When there was a new moon they made it a holy festival to the Lord and they were fastidious about the Sabbaths. They were a very religious nation.
Sometimes we need to be careful about how we judge from outward appearances, because God saw big trouble in the hearts of these very dedicated and religious people. Yes they kept the Sabbaths, but they neglected to understand the heart of God. They failed to understand that if any of God’s people were hurting then God couldn’t care less about the Sabbath. He cared about wiping the tears of the one in trouble.
The people just didn’t get it. And I fear that neither do we.
I hate that I missed church this weekend, but I know that it is really “no skin off God’s nose”. He is not a God who needs me to be at church…. I am a person who needs the nourishment that I get from church. Can you see the difference and the implications? This is why Jesus said that the Sabbath was made for mankind and not mankind for the Sabbath. It was never meant to be a religious requirement to appease a wrathful God, but a gift to enable mankind to refresh and maintain proper perspective about things like caring for one another.
Now there is another very important aspect that I must discuss. The Israelites were fastidious in keeping God’s law because they knew that in keeping his law they would be blessed…. And they sure did want His blessing. So I ask you again, where do you think their treasure was?
Very much like us when we neglect God’s ways because we need a little “me” time, the Israelites were their own treasure. They treasured themselves and if keeping the Sabbath and the festivals meant that God would bless them than that is what they would do. They kept the Sabbath because they thought that keeping the Sabbath would give them supernatural blessing. And God was exhausted with them.
It is a pretty natural and human thing to bargain with God. That is what the Israelites were doing. Basically they were saying, “If I do this for God, then he will bless me”. I remember bargaining with God once. I probably have done it in various ways at various times but certainly the most striking example is when I was expecting my first child and was bleeding. I did so much bargaining with God. All to no avail and I eventually miscarried and probably learnt a valuable lesson. God is God and he is merciful and wants to bless us, but his blessing is not dependant on our good works, but his blessings are simply dependant on his love and sovereignty.
Christianity is not like any other religion, unless we miss the point. When we miss the point we do what the ancient Israelites did and turn the Good News into religion. In every religion there is a list of dos and don’ts and Christianity can easily fall into this same way. But that isn’t the way that God wants it to be. The reason that we have the Holy Spirit is so that we can understand that we have no set of rules, but instead we have a relationship with the God who created us. With His Holy Spirit in us we have his law in our heart, and his is a law of love and care and concern.
I have a job which means that I’m going to be working often on weekends. Shift workers are the same, doctors and ambulance men and nurses, just to name a few. While it should be obvious to others that our treasure is God, it should be obvious to them because of our Christ-like heart and not because of our business in religious activity.
Luke 12: 35,36 ““Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him.”
The service that we need to be doing might be very different from what you’ve previously thought. If you have thought, “I don’t need to be in Church to be a Christian and I do lots of caring for others, so I’m fine by God”; you have missed the point. And on the flip side if you are very active in Church activities and functions but don’t reach out to others around you, who may need no more than your friendship, you’ve also missed the point. Our life in Church and our interactions with those outside of church go hand in hand.
Our New Testament reading from Hebrews gives us examples of people who were commended for their faith. These are people who were in communion with God and when God told them to leave their comfort zone they did. More than that, when these people left that comfort zone, they didn’t see the blessing. Yes, you read correctly… they DIDN’T see the blessing. They obeyed God, but for years and years they could not see the fruit of God’s blessing.
Hebrews 11:13-16 “All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.”
My eldest daughter has left to live in Cairns. She is working and going to University there. I sent her a little gift a couple of weeks ago and sent her another little one this week.
We are called to be the children of God and our treasure is that city that he has prepared for us, but in his mercy he does bless us along the way, but it isn’t because of our Good Works. It is because of his great love and his RELATIONSHIP with us.
I would hope that my daughter is old enough that she won’t treasure the silly little gifts I send her, but instead she will realize that the gifts are a sign of my love and my commitment to be in a relationship with her. And I assume that it is the relationship that she will treasure.
In the same way, it is our RELATIONSHIP with God that we are to treasure above all…. Not the doing of things for him so that we can feel justified, or the keeping of God’s law so that we can treasure his blessings.
I remember having friends who, when rumours were going around about me, I thought they would know better and never believe such craziness. I assumed that because of our relationship they would understand what was really going on – but they didn’t and it seemed that what I thought was a real relationship, was actually only a superficial one - what a disappointment!
Just like you do a close friend, a parent or child, with whom you really do understand and treasure, we need to realize that God’s greatest desire is for us to understand his heart and have a real relationship with him. Understanding His heart will mean that we will act with compassion in areas we may not have thought about previously, or cry out for justice in other areas, or stand up for the greater good somewhere else. And so, with this in mind, where is your treasure? Is it in your relationship with God?
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