A new thing - Easter 5 May 19 2019

FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER - Year C - May 19, 2019

·      Acts 11:1-18  •  Psalm 148  • Revelation 21:1-6  • John 13:31-35

Most people who know me, know that I sing, and that I sing as an entertainer at venues such as restaurants, cafes and pubs.  What is not such common knowledge is that I come from a family who have not been inclined to walk into pubs.  Maybe it was my father’s influence… I’m not sure, but somehow the younger me was given the impression that it was not the “done thing” for a lady to walk into a public bar.  I might add I have never heard my father swear, but I have heard him talk about times he threatened to hit a bloke for swearing in front of his sister – he was possibly all talk, but sometimes that is all you need to be. 

I tell you this story because it is just a little bit like the account we read in the book of acts where Peter is sent to the Gentile house and his peers are rather suspicious about it all.

Before we can understand just what is going on, we need to realize that in the times of Peter, there were traditions, ways of life that were considered the norm and things you just didn’t do – one of these was to go, as a Jew, to the house of a Gentile – It just wasn’t the done thing.

The Jews were surrounded by people of various nations and beliefs.  Throughout their history God had commanded them about keeping separate.  It was important because God was identifying himself, and making himself known, through the Jewish people.  Therefore He was ensuring clarity about His nature. The people around them had various beliefs and through the intermarrying with these nations the understanding of God sometimes became somewhat skewed. 

It is always important to have enough fear of God to know not to mess with the sacredness of who he really is. 

Peter saw a vision, not once but three times.  This was important because the three times meant that it was God confirming the truth of what Peter was coming to understand.  Not only did the Jews have rules about whose house they could eat in, but they had many rules about what they could eat.

The oldest documented set of rules about food are the Jewish dietary laws.  These are also known as Kashrut, from which the word Kosher is derived.  In the year 2019, when I look at these rules about food in the Bible times I can see that the possible logical reason would be for health and hygiene.  Many scholars agree, but not conclusively.  There was also a spiritual element in the eating of foods, which was part of the religions of the nations around Israel, and this was another aspect that needed clarification and separation.  An example of this spiritual element of food is found in other places in the New Testament when Christian converts are advised to refrain from eating meat offered to demons.

In the scriptures there seems to be some correlation also, with the unclean food and unclean people being of an unclean spiritual nature.  However, even today, acceptable and not acceptable food differs depending on what that we’ve grown up with and become accustomed.

People who are so completely different to us in their customs are a challenge.  With the example of the Old Testament, we can justify that sometimes separation is a good thing.  I really and truly do not want to rub shoulders with a serial killer, and to say that we are all the children of God can be just a little too simplistic and downright dangerous.

Peter was from a people who assumed that there was something a little less than wholesome about the Gentiles.  In fact the customs you and I have now, are more than likely just a bit weird and possibly spiritually wrong as far as those early Jewish Christians were concerned.

But Peter was told in his vision of unclean animals, “get up, kill and eat”.  Then when Peter objected, he was told, “'What God has made clean, you must not call profane.'”.

It was at that moment that a man from Caesarea arrived to ask Peter to come to the house of a Gentile and tell them about Jesus.  Peter then sensed the Spirit’s message to go, and to not make a distinction between the Jew and the Gentile. 

Can you imagine Peter’s surprise when the Holy Spirit fell on those Gentiles?  This must have literally blown Peter’s mind.  Those who were considered spiritually lessor, were given the gift of the Holy Spirit just the same as the Jewish Christians.

Our reading from Revelations 21:5-6 tells us, "See, I am making all things new." Also he said, "Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true." Then he said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life.” 

The Holy Spirit is the gift from the spring of the water of life.  It was new for the Jewish Christians, but they had all been brought up with the promises of God for His chosen people and this new thing not only empowered them to be the witnesses of Jesus but it affirmed that they were indeed God’s chosen.  Then to hear that the message of salvation was given to the Gentiles there were somewhat suspicious.  Next they heard that the Holy Spirit had also come upon the Gentiles and the concept was so unbelievably new that none of them could easily comprehend it. 

You and I are those outsiders.  Whatever the reason God had for telling the Jewish nation to remain separate was obviously for a time and place – but not forever.  We get very hung up, at times, with trying to figure out the way things should be.  We quote that God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow – His nature is unchanging and we find it very hard to discern what things can change and what can’t and pretty much, we hate change of any sort.  Our readings today all talk about a NEW thing that God is doing.  God is the same always.  Rest assured though that God’s law did not change.  It was completed by Jesus, and only through him can say, it is done!  These new things that God was doing, were not new to God, only to the people.  There are some things in the Bible that, ensconced in the culture and aspects of that time and place, had to be a certain way… but not forever. 

As an outsider who is now the recipient of God’s grace, I am very grateful for that.  But as now, an adopted part of God’s chosen race, I need to look to see those who I and we perceive to be outsiders and ask if I am doing the same as the critical Jewish Christians who thought Peter had gone astray.  Am I judging someone as unclean or spiritually lessor, when God is actually asking me not to make a distinction?

As a woman, I have traditionally been seen as spiritually lessor….  And I have tried to understand why.  For many years I have been told that God would not have created me a woman and called me into ministry.  Though I honestly tried to accept that, it didn’t seem logical and I could come up with no logical reason for such a view.

We live in interesting times where we need to be asking God for wisdom and even visions.  I feel it is vital that we don’t lose sight of who God is, but I hope that our eyes can be opened to those where he wants us to make no distinction.

There is another new thing that God asks of us.  In our Gospel reading Jesus says, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.  By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."

We had already been told that love was the fulfillment of the law – to love God and to love your neighbour, so why does Jesus call this, “new”? 

The important part here is the “Just as I have loved you”.  This is a call to love sacrificially.  It means loving when it is hard to do so.  More than anything we need to pray for wisdom and visions, listen to the voice of God, recognising his call to go and do what He would have us do.

Peter was asked to go to a specific person’s house.  Not just any house.  Loving sacrificially means we need to push through fear, but not jump in front of any bus.  We need to go where God calls us and be open to the change he is bringing that will literally blow our minds, but not change simply for the sake of change – that could be to jump in front of a bus, or throw ourselves to the lions.

There is always some fear and discomfort when God does a new thing, but excitement also.  We are to be salt of the earth, but if we simply leave this message of salvation here in the church we are like salt in a salt shaker never moved and sprinkled.  Like Peter we are called to go out and spread the Good News.  The Holy Spirit will confirm when we are in the right place because we will see the fruit… we will see the Holy Spirit fall.  Where are we being called to go? 

It isn’t so hard or so scary after all.  One of the most exciting things in my life is being part of Street Chaplaincy.  We don’t preach, and yet people know we are being the hands and feet of God and we are safely meeting with all kinds of people that are so different from us.  Where is God calling us today?  The first step is always the hardest… but it begins with a willing heart that says, “Yes, Lord, if you lead me, I will go.”

May 12 2019 fourth Sunday of Easter

FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER    Year C   May 12, 2019

• Acts 9:36-43  •   Psalm 23  •   Revelation 7:9-17  •   John 10:22-30

What the kids at school know about me, is that I have an imaginary, magical and invisible treasure chest.  At the end of each school music lesson, two children are chosen to receive a prize from the treasure chest.  Believe it or not, the kids love this and if I forget to do it, they soon remind me.  One day a young girl chose a bouncy ball out of the imaginary, magical and invisible treasure chest and on her way back to the class room a boy stole her imaginary ball.  There was a ruckus as they entered the classroom and the teacher demanded to know what was going on and then, after being told that the boy had the girl’s ball, the teacher commanded the boy to give it back.  At this point I had already left the class but overheard the conversation and I laughed, because the whole thing was imaginary.

Often the children will tell me that they snatched my treasure chest from me.  I tell them that they can’t take it.  It belongs to me and stays with me and no one can take it… that is just the way it is.

Similarly Jesus tells us; “My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me.  I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand.  What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father's hand.  The Father and I are one."

In these weeks following the Resurrection we’ve read stories that show a tension between faith and doubt.  There are two ways we could look at this Gospel reading.  One way would be to say that those who don’t accept the message of Jesus (those who doubt) are not listening to his voice and therefore not his sheep.  The other way is to focus on those who DO respond to the voice of Jesus.   But either of these could lead us to judgements and incorrect assumptions unless we look at some of the facts… and I actually think the more crucial part of the message just might be that small statement that Jesus repeats; NO one will snatch us out of His or the father’s hand.

This conversation in our Gospel reading, is taking place prior to the crucifixion and resurrection and Jesus was saying, “No one will snatch them out of my hand”. 

Think about it.  This conversation is happening before Peter denied Christ.  This conversation is happening before Thomas doubted.  BUT also keep in mind that this conversation is taking place before the conversion of St. Paul.

At this point in our Gospel account, Jesus was the talk of the town with the miracles that he performed, yet they didn’t believe him to be the Messiah, and they asked him straight out.  Let’s compare this to our story of Tabitha. 

Tabitha was a woman known for her good works.  She died and the believers heard that Peter was nearby.  They sent for him and the result was that Tabitha was again alive…. This become known throughout Joppa and many believed.  Why did people respond with belief through the ministry of Peter, yet failed to be so receptive with Jesus?  At the time of Tabitha, the people would have heard the buzz about Jesus and his resurrection, and they’d have heard of the works and miracles of the followers of Jesus, so it seems that perhaps the evidence was growing and becoming undeniable.

Yet in the time prior… the time between the resurrection and the day of Pentecost, (ie.. the liturgical time we are now celebrating in the church),our attention is drawn to stories of faith and failure, of doubt and proof, and throughout it all we have re-instatement and, most importantly, reassurance…. today I would like to point out that repeated sentence - no one can snatch us out of God’s hand. 

In that period after the crucifixion and before the day of Pentecost, It must have seemed like the followers of Jesus were scattered and lost.  That is what the authorities were hoping.  They hoped that with the crucifixion, all this upheaval and talk of Jesus being the Messiah would simply vanish and that those people would return to their previous way of life.  This is what we all tend to do when we are under pressure and Peter did it when he announced in last week’s readings, that he was going fishing…  we go back to what we’ve known and the things about which we are sure and secure.

To put the story into perspective we need to understand that the message of Jesus actually seemed like heresy to the religious leaders.  There was a huge buzz among the people and it must have seemed like a question of who was actually hearing God’s voice and who was being led astray.  I imagine it would have been rather difficult to know.  After all, is it the sensible thing to go with the traditions that we’ve always had…. Or follow the radical miracle worker? 

Saint Paul when he was still known as Saul the Pharisee, was certain that he was doing God’s work when he set about persecuting the Christians and giving approval to the stoning of Stephen.  So how can we know, even now that we are listening to, and hearing the voice of God, and not some imitation?

Let’s just remember that imitations are designed to deceive and are hard to decipher.  I remember someone telling about expert who are trained to spot counterfeit money.  They spend lots of time studying the REAL thing.  That is all they really need. When you are so completely familiar with the genuine article then it is easy to spot the fake.

Jesus is the good Shepherd and he says that his sheep know his voice.   Have you ever heard someone explain something and it is just like a light bulb goes on?  It’s an “Ah-ha” moment.  That is what I mostly think it is like, to recognise Jesus as the Messiah.  But sometimes we can be simply listening to a voice that is saying what we want to hear – or expect to hear… Is it the voice of God – or does it just sound like His?  We are very familiar with our own voice, but to recognise the voice of God we need to spend time hearing it.

When we read the stories in the Bible we see that the apostles often quoted scripture to explain that Jesus was the Messiah.  They explained the Good News of Salvation by explaining the scriptures, and with the power of the Holy Spirit and the signs and wonders that accompanied, people were convinced.  I can imagine, however, that there must have been great uneasiness along the way – just as there is with any time of great change, and this was really an unparalleled time of change.  In fact, the favourable response to such great change only serves to prove that God was speaking and people were hearing and recognising their creator.

Before the time of Pentecost however, the Jesus, the shepherd had been struck and the sheep were scattered.  Peter had denied Jesus and Thomas doubted – who knows what was going on with numerous others?

How can we make sense of Peter actually denying Jesus?  Peter was the one who had earlier proclaimed Jesus to be the Messiah?  And perhaps a more important question is, are we any better?  We all go somewhat astray and if we don’t, we most likely would if a little pressure was applied.  By the grace of God we live in a place and time where being a follower of Jesus is not so life-threatening, and admitting our Christianity is not such an extreme pressure.

Jesus is the Good Shepherd.  It is vital that we understand that just because we have times of doubt and failure, we are not lost from the flock or snatched away…. But there are times when things prevent us from hearing God’s voice.  In the case of Peter denying Christ, Peter’s fear seemed to be in the driver’s seat, directing his actions. 

If you have ever seen the animated movie, “Inside out”, you might understand how things can go a little off track.  The movie shows the inside of a pre-teen girl’s mind and inside that mind, are characters such as disgust, fear, sadness, joy and anger.  The movie showed how when there is a dominant emotion who rejects the validity of the others things go pear shaped.  In many ways this is what happens to all of us, and when our emotions (for example) of fear, or distrust take over, they can prevent us from hearing God’s voice.  Many of us will build walls around our emotions so that only the ones we deem acceptable can be seen.  But these walls also tend to prevent us from hearing God’s voice – and sometimes it takes a lot of jack-hammering for the voice of God to break through.

Though we may have some - or many - weak moments, where we fail to hear God’s voice, it is important for us to know God is in control and No one can snatch us from God’s hand.

There may be people in our lives to whom we speak about Jesus, but they don’t believe in God and can’t seem to accept the message of Salvation.  It doesn’t necessarily mean that they are not part of Gods flock, but simply that there is something in the way preventing them from hearing God’s voice.  Saint Paul was certainly one who we’d have thought was not part of God’s flock, and there have been many others throughout history, who persecuted Christians, only to have a dramatic turn around when somehow that voice of God broke through.

The early Christians lived in exciting times.  People were raised from the dead and the words of the apostles were proved because there were signs and wonders that followed.  But none of those signs and wonders had Saint Paul convinced.  Saint Paul was an enemy of Christians, and when God spoke to him, the voice was so unfamiliar that Paul had to ask “who are you Lord”. 

Signs and wonders sure are amazing, but the voice of God is everything.

 In our lives, are we looking for signs and wonders or do we listen for the voice of God?

In our own strength, with every fibre of our being convicted of the message of Christ, we can still go astray, so we need to get to know the voice of the Good Shepherd who will not let us be snatched out of his hand. 

I would like to end with a song by Keith Green who wrote about his experience when he finally heard the voice of God, or in his words, God’s love broke through.  “Like waking up from the longest dream… how real it seemed, until your love broke through…”  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J17mM7sZKnQ 

A midweek reflection for 8th May 2019 Don't give up meeting together

Reflection for midweek service 8^th May.   Acts 8:1-8, Ps 66:1-8. John 6:35-40

We are living in interesting times! It seems to be a Global time of extremes where many are passionate about their point of view, and they punctuate their passion with protests and rallies.  Those who stand for peace and love and understanding are sometimes left discouraged and worn out feeling like they are fighting a losing battle…. Or is that just me speaking personally?

Let me introduce myself briefly.  I’m a girl from a devoted Catholic family, who was brought up in a time and culture where it was expected that I’d leave school with minimal education, get a low paying job until finding a mate to marry, and then be a stay at home mum.   Somewhere in the middle of this journey God interrupted and showed me that he was real and that he loved me.  I didn’t fully understand it at the time, but this interruption shaped my adult life where I felt called to ministry from the time I was 18…. But I was just a girl… and I felt powerless and alone.

In retrospect this feeling of powerlessness is probably the feeling of the apostles after the death and resurrection of Jesus, prior to the coming of the Holy Spirit.  There was hope and faith, but then there was the fear of the authorities who had put Jesus to death.  But we must remember that what made all the difference was the coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. 

Our Gospel reading comes to us from the apostle John and the scene is set where those who were questioning Jesus had witnessed him feeding the 5000 and then the apostles had witnessed him walking on water.  Wow… how much proof do we need to believe?  After all this there were some who still didn’t believe and wanted a sign.  I’m guessing that even Judas, who betrayed Jesus, witnessed all these things, yet still did not believe.  It causes me to ponder, what it is that stops people from believing when God really does give them every opportunity to believe.

What stands out for me, though, is this one sentence found in the Gospel reading: “whoever comes to me I will never drive away”.  We can sometimes get so caught up in working out what is right and what is wrong that we forget the central message of the Gospel.  Gospel means Good News and here it is…. When we come to Jesus he will never drive us away.

Jesus declares that he IS the bread of life.  Just as bread broken and consumed gives life to our mortal bodies, the broken body of Christ – that is, His sacrifice on the cross and resurrection from the dead brings us life…. And that life he imparts to us is eternal life.  This is what we read in our Gospel… Jesus says, “……everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”

Today we can choose to accept this message of Salvation.  In fact each time we come to take communion we are offered the opportunity to accept Jesus and eternal life.  It is an action that calls us to remember that Jesus is our bread of life and we come to him and accept him.  It is an action we do so that we remember…. But the reality is much deeper. 

Natural bread is nourishment that’s effect is limited and we need to take it in again and again…. But the reality of the bread that Jesus is, is once and for all.  Jesus died once and for all and it is only because of our human forgetfulness that we need to be constantly reminded.

While we may forget and even go astray, Jesus will never drive us away.  He has said “And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me”.

I’m sure that in the time before the coming of the Holy Spirit and even after, in the time of persecution when St. Paul was still known as Saul, the Pharisee, who was throwing Christians in prison, that it may have felt exhausting and discouraging as though the battle was impossible.  How did these people remain so steadfast in the midst of such persecution?

Those early Christians knew they had the bread of life and nothing could take their eternal life from them.   Neither are we fighting a losing battle. 

 In a very personal way, we often may feel that we have failed.  All humans do.  But over and over the scriptures declare the complete work of Jesus and that nothing can separate us from the love of God.  He will not drive us away and he will not lose us.

We are no longer alone.  Once we’ve accepted the bread of life we are changed.  It isn’t like natural bread that we consume and then become hungry and need to consume again.  The spiritual reality is that we are spiritually transformed and this transformation is permanent.  God is with us and will never drive us away… he will never leave nor forsake us.  We can’t see this change with our earthly eyes, and in our human flesh we forget this spiritual reality, and so we need encouragement to remember and celebrate this deeper truth.

Just like the followers of Jesus, you may feel afraid and discouraged…. But that is why we need each other and to gather together and remember and be encouraged…  And just like the story of the apostles, though everything may look grim, we are not ever alone, but spiritually a transformed people with the same power within us that changed the course of history.

Be encouraged; We are not fighting a losing battle because the battle for our eternal life has already been won.  The only battle is the one within us to remember it.

Easter 2 28th April 2019 Discernment

SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER  Year C   April 28, 2019

Acts 5:27-32  •  Psalm 118:14-29 or Psalm 150  •  Revelation 1:4-8  •  John 20:19-31

In Australia we have this thing we call the “Tall Poppy Syndrome”.  I’m sure you know it and may even have experienced it in some form.  We tend to want to cut down those who seem to be doing well.  In some generations it has been seen as a kind of “grounding”… that is, making sure that the one doing well remembers to be humble.  But in actual fact it is sin, and born out of envy and covetousness.

Selfish ambition causes people to speak badly about the one who is seen to be doing well, and usually the general population is happy to believe the gossip because they all share that same sin of envy.

In our first reading we see that the disciples are standing before the high priest being accused of blaming the religious people of Jerusalem for the death of Jesus… and they don’t hold back in telling those making the accusations that they are indeed responsible.

This is really important to understand properly.  Some Christians today, will try to tell you that it was the Romans who were responsible for Jesus’ crucifixion.  These Christians make these statements to stand up for Jews and fight against anti-Jewish prejudice. Rome did give the final OK to the crucifixion, but remember how Pilate tried to release Jesus and then washed his hands, symbolically showing that it was not him but the Jews who had Jesus crucified.

Some anti-Semitics have had this blame of the Jews for Jesus’ death as a justification for their prejudice.  Rest assured that we have no right for any such prejudice, and to do so would show grave ignorance of the word of God, the scriptures, and the promises of God to his people, the Israelite nation. 

It is important that we understand that it was Jesus own people who rejected him and handed him over to be crucified.  This is written in the scriptures both in prophecy before Jesus’ death and in the accounts written by eye witnesses, after the death of Jesus.  His blood was on their hands and it is also on ours – because it is for OUR sins that he died…  and we too are guilty of rejecting Christ.

Jesus was seen by the religious of his day, to be a Tall Poppy.  He had a following of people and a reputation for working miracles.  He claimed to be the Son of God.  As far as they were concerned, this was blasphemy, and he needed to be put to death - especially as he was achieving even more than the average tall poppy - He was doing things that kind of proved himself to be true, as the messiah…. And confirmed, as the son of God!  A false tall poppy can be easily laughed at and dismissed, but the ones who deserve their status are generally the ones we all crucify.  

It was Jesus’ own people who were responsible for his blood.  How easy it was for them to get it wrong.  How easy it was for them to justify their wrong actions and to crucify the innocent.  It is just as easy for us to do the same right here in this year.

They rejected Jesus, but the stone the builders rejected has become the corner stone.

We do well to keep in mind how the very ones that Jesus came to save, did not recognize him and even crucified him.  We should reflect and ponder about those who we reject, and examine our conscience to see if we are honestly discerning or if we are, in fact, only justifying our selfish motives.

Jesus’ hands and feet are now on earth in his people, in you and me.  To answer the question of whether we are guilty of having rejected Christ, we need to look at the people in our church and ask if there are any we have rejected and hurt.  Jesus tells us that what we do to the least of His people is what we have done to him.

We should take a moment to ask the Spirit of God to open our eyes to anywhere in our lives that we have been guilty of this.

Speaking of discernment, where our eyes are opened to the deeper reality… where we see things with the eyes of  God, we come to look at our Gospel reading where we notice the story of the one we’ve come to know as “doubting Thomas”.  

I do feel sorry for Thomas as he has a reputation that I’m sure he does not deserve.  

When we read the account, we see that Jesus appeared to the disciples on the first day of the week and Thomas was absent.  On this first appearance Jesus actually shows his wounds to those in the room.  Why did he do that?  It is my belief that Jesus knew it was necessary to be abundantly clear, in order for the disciples to, not just believe, but absolutely know, with unshakeable assurance, that this was Jesus in risen flesh.   This absolute assurance, that they were not dreaming or imagining, or seeing a ghost, was needed so that they could accurately pass on this testimony of what they witnessed so that others could believe.

Unfortunately there will always be people who will not believe regardless of the testimony of another and regardless of all the evidence.  Jesus had taught his disciples about his death and resurrection, but none of them had properly grasped it.  The disciples had seen Jesus and passed on the story to Thomas, but Thomas remains sceptical.

I’ve seen too many people led astray by popular notions to dismiss Thomas as simply doubting.  Many years ago there was a movement in the Catholic Church called the Magnificat Meal Movement.  There was a lady from Toowoomba who led the movement and many here in Mackay were swept up in it… even stating the signs and wonders… miracles that seemed to happen surrounding this woman, who. on the one hand affirmed the traditional Catholic church (such that she won over many loyal devotees ) and with the other hand completely dismissed and criticised the Catholic Church.  She led many astray.

We are encouraged to test the spirits.  Whether it is from the lips of the person you most trust and admire or the greatest guru, we must train ourselves and our children to think critically.  In fact, we need to teach them to be like Thomas and discern.  The Bible tells us that faith is being Sure of what we hope for and certain of things we can’t see….. but being sure and certain means that even though we can’t see it, it isn’t BLIND faith, but convictions based on reasons.

As a mature-age education student we were encourage to be critical thinkers and told that with the current state of the world and the way that it seems to be headed, the best thing we can pass on to children is how to think critically and discern where there maybe bias or camouflaged lies.  Too often though, what I see is the media and society creating a culture where there is a popular philosophy that all the intelligent people must think in a certain way – The education lecturers were correct… we do need to teach critical thinking skills to our children, but it is so foreign to most people that we don’t know how to pass it on to our children… it doesn’t mean disbelieving everything, but it does mean thinking it through and testing it in the light of different circumstances.

My daughter, Talitha’s first lesson in this was when she was about 4 years old.  She wanted me to buy her roll ups. She’d seen the advertisement on television and when I bought them for her she wanted to know why they wouldn’t stick to her face the way that they did on the advertisement.  I explained that they put things that weren’t true on the ad so that we would want to buy them.  She was more aware of what was going on after that.

I have told children that every television show is trying to teach them something… or convince them of something.. or change their mind.  It is the same with songs.  Everything in entertainment is a voice with a message, urging you to get on board with their way of thinking.  Have you ever recognised them trying to change the way you think about a topic?  My guess is that sometimes you have, but I doubt that any of us are aware of the more subtle ones.  Don’t get me wrong, many of the messages are actually really positive, but we should be aware of the agenda so that we can consciously decide if we want to accept that way of thought….

The educators call it critical thinking, but the Bible calls it discernment.

Jesus didn’t dismiss Thomas for his doubting and disqualify him from apostleship, but instead he gives him the knowledge that Thomas is going to need in order to be one of Jesus’ powerful eye witnesses who was about to shape the history of the earth.

It is believed that Thomas went as missionary to the far East and eventually died in India after baptizing many.  It was Thomas who, when Jesus was determined to go to Jerusalem after Lazarus’ death, said that they should all go with him and die with Jesus -  They knew that the Jews were wanting to put Jesus to death.  Thomas was loyal to Jesus and he was brave, but he wasn’t going to be swayed by the Charisma of Peter or the persuasiveness of John’s clever way with words.

In the readings today we’ve seen that people can easily reject God’s message and Christ in others simply because of sinful envy or ego,…that is, tall poppy syndrome.   And hopefully we’ve also seen how it is good to be discerning and deliberately thoughtful about what we believe.  Jesus said to Thomas, blessed are those who believe even though they have not seen.   This is talking about us, but it doesn’t mean for us to blindly believe…. We believe because we have reasoned with the evidence, heard from the eye witnesses and seen the results from their lives and their impact on our human history. 

In the book of Acts we read about a group of Jews from Berea.  Acts 17:11(NIV)

“Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.”  These people didn’t dismiss the message according to their own prejudice, but neither did they blindly accept.  They were open to the message but examined the scriptures to discern that the message was correct.

We also believe because we have an advocate… the Holy Spirit, who helps us to discern.  Our faith is not blind, but it is a conviction based on reason and prayerful connection to God who lives in us. It is no coincidence that we read in the Gospel that Jesus breathed on the disciples and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit."

GOOD FRIDAY - IT IS FINISHED

GOOD FRIDAY 2019 19^th April

Jesus said, “It is finished!” 

Today is a day most holy.  In 1992 I was in hospital on Good Friday after giving birth to daughter number two, Brittany, and I noticed a strange stillness.   This was back in the days when the Mater was in the middle of town where those crazy parrots squawk so loudly, but even they were silent on that day.  I’ve noticed it since then…. It is as if there is a sacred stillness in all creation, remembering and acknowledging the sacrifice and the work that Jesus accomplished on the cross on the day we have come to know as Good Friday.

Even non-Christian historians have written about this person, Jesus, who we know as the son of God.  They wrote that he performed wonders and that he was crucified.  Because of him our system of counting the years came to be marked by the year of his birth…. Any sensible person must ask why the life and death of Jesus was so significant.

While many may tell you that Australia is no longer a Christian nation, and they may even try to say that all this Christianity is a myth, yet today is a holiday – or Holy day…. All over Australia.  Venues are shut.  On Sunday some of them will be open.  Today is the day MOST HOLY.  But why?

Today we celebrate that day when Jesus cried out, “It is finished”.  But what did he mean by that?

It all began back in the book of Genesis at the beginning of time when sin entered the world and mankind were cast out from God’s presence. 

These days it isn’t considered correct to talk about sin.  And people become quite defensive and uncomfortable if we suggest that they might sometimes sin, yet sin is simply anything that falls short of perfection, and in fact the Bible tells us that anything that is not of faith is sin…. Yet we all have times where we lack faith.  In Archery anything other than a bullseye is considered sin.  In fact, we can-not not sin…. It has become part of our DNA.

Unfortunately, sin separates us from God.  Now that is the bad news…. But it is a fact. 

God created us to be in relationship with him and he planned a way to bring us back into relationship with him.  The Bible tells us that justice must be served and there is a price for sin, and the price was death.  And this is not good news!

Way back in ancient times of superstitions and fearful pagan gods, there was a system that seemed to appease the ancient gods… it was a system of sacrifice.  Abraham lived in this ancient context and understood things in this way and so when God tested Abraham and asked him to sacrifice his son, Isaac, the concept was not completely foreign to Abraham, however it was odd in the fact that our God never required such sacrifice.  Yet Abraham obeys.  At this point in the story Abraham knows the promise of God to make him a father of nations, and the miraculous birth of Isaac, born to him in his old age and to his barren 90 year old wife, meant that Abraham figured that somehow God would save this child…. Or raise him from the dead, and by now, Abraham believed that God could certainly do it.

So in obedience, but no doubt with trepidation, Abraham sets out.  Just like Jesus carried his cross, we note that the wood for the sacrifice was laid on Isaac, who carried it to the place of sacrifice.  Scripture is so amazing that there are layers of meaning and prophetic messages about Jesus written hundreds of years before his birth.  Suddenly God calls out to stop Abraham and a lamb appears…. God did provide the lamb.  We know that Jesus is the Lamb of God, who is substituted for our death, (our debt for sin).  Here, before the Israelite nation is even born, is yet another message about Jesus and the purpose he would achieve.

The lamb was sacrificed in place of Isaac and the blessing was given, which proclaimed the people coming from Isaac as God’s chosen people…. Just like Jesus who died in our place enables us to be God’s chosen people.

Later in Egypt, in the history of Isaac’s people, the Israelites, God would command that a lamb be sacrificed and the blood painted on the door ways, while the Angel of death passed through the land of Egypt where the Israelites were living as slaves.  The Angel would pass over the houses with the blood of the lamb, and the firstborn of the family was saved by the blood of the lamb. 

A little latter with the giving of the law, the community would lay hands on a goat and confess the sins of the community…. This is where we get the term, scape goat, as the sins were considered transferred and the community was forgiven.

All through history God showed his loved and forged ways so that his people could be in relationship with him…. And yet they were not to take him for granted.  Make no mistake, God is holy, powerful and awesome.  His temple contained areas that were segregated such that one area was only for the high priest and even that was only under very strict guidelines involving animal sacrifice and with a rope attached in case the power of God overwhelmed them and they died, they could then be pulled out.  Sounds frightening… and though it was a way for the people to be relationship with God, still not the greatest of news.

However, our reading from Hebrews tells us that Christ offered one sacrifice for sins, an offering that is effective forever.  This is what he accomplished on Good Friday.  And he said, ……“It is finished.”

Another scripture written hundreds of years before Christ, from Isaiah chapter 53, tells us that Christ bore our sins.  His punishment made us whole

53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way, and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 

It also says… The righteous one, my servant, shall make many righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities….. he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.”  This prophetically tells us about Jesus and what he was accomplishing for us.

This is beyond what we can comprehend, but Jesus actually was baptized into all our sin… past, present and future and paid the price for us all.  Although our physical DNA has a natural inclination to sin, when we are baptized into Christ, it is as though we receive the Spiritual DNA of Christ, who has already paid the price for sin and is perfect.

Hebrews tells us that with one sacrifice, he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.   What this actually means is that we now have the privilege that was once only for select few who’d prepared themselves through sacrifice and rituals.  We can now enter the holy of holies… the place where God is.   In one very natural sense we are still being made holy, but in another, we are already perfect as we only come to God through the sacrifice of Jesus, and when clothed in Christ, we are acceptable to God.

C. S. Lewis wrote the Chronicles of Narnia, fictitious children’s stories, but full of Christian imagery.  In The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, there is a scene where the Lion lies dead on the stone table, then as the dawn breaks there is a loud crack as the stone table breaks in two and the lion is resurrected.  He explains that there is a deep magic in Narnia that requires a traitor’s life to be forfeited to the white witch.  But then he explains that there is an even deeper magic that when a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor's stead, the Table would crack and Death itself would start working backwards.

At the beginning of time God had a plan to save us in this way as the letter from 1 Peter 1:18-20 tells us, “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.  He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.”

Finally it was accomplished.  So many of the things that happened in Jesus journey to crucifixion were written about in scripture hundreds of years before hand.  From the accounts in the Gospels we know that Jesus knew the sacrifice he willingly made, but that doesn’t mean it was easy.

Have you ever been accused of things you haven’t done?  It doesn’t feel good.  Do you remember a time when someone sat down with a needle to work a prickle out of your finger?  That wasn’t fun either.  Sometimes the knowledge of the pain to come makes it even harder to bear.  Jesus knew of the physical pain that was ahead and he was scared.  He knew that he was to be mocked for claiming to be God’s son, as if he was a fraud, but he knew that he was truly the son of God. 

All these things are horrible, but we can imagine what it may have felt like.  What we can’t imagine is what it was like to carry the sin of the world to the cross.  We know that Jesus was scared.  Yet willingly, Jesus continued to fulfil his destiny.  Why? Why would he bother?   Has he seen us, for whom he died?  John Newton was a ruthless and cruel slave trader.  When he came to understand the message of the Gospel he wrote;  “Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.”  For all of us, even that person that you find completely ruthless and horrid, Jesus died.  Jesus paid the debt of sin for all.  And this sacrifice was done once and for all.  It is now finished.

A song that I teach my singing students is called Mercy walked in.  “I stood in the courtroom. The Judge turned my way, “it looks like you’re guilty, now what do you say.” I answered, “your honour, I have no defence” but that’s when mercy walked in.”  Imagine being found guilty of a crime and then discovering that the jail term has already been served by someone else.  The judge bangs the gavel and says, “dismissed… you are free…”

There are times when we think we are not acceptable to God.  There are times when we think we need to work at something to become acceptable to God.  Nothing but the truth is needed…. And that truth is that the debt has been paid. 

Do you recall the words of Isaiah which, when Jesus read them, said “today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing”?  Those words which Jesus prophetically proclaimed were: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.”

GOOD NEWS !  Finally!  We know the bad news about how we all sin and sin separates us from God, and now we know that the Good News and reason that this is Good Friday is because Jesus paid that debt for us and we are free.

I once heard an international Bible speaker say, “Christ didn’t come to die for your sins”.  And I thought he was speaking heresy.  Surely that is what Good Friday is truly about, Christ achieved his destiny by dying for the sins of the world…. But the speaker went on to explain something which I’ve come to see as vitally important…. Christ’s objective was to bring us LIFE.  However, to bring us life, our debt for sin needed to be paid.  God showers us with love and mercy and grace beyond our comprehension, and we can rejoice in the freedom and live an abundant life that starts now and goes into eternity.  But the Life that God brings us was not possible without the cross.

Good Friday is a MOST holy and important day, but we are NOT meant to stay here focusing on our sin.  As Jesus declared on the cross; “It is finished”.  Even sin in our future, is already paid for… nothing can separate us from the love of God…nothing….

This week I found an old letter from someone who said some very hurtful things to me.  All over again I felt like maybe I’m actually a horrible person and the hurt was as fresh as when I first received the letter.  I believe it was a timely find to show me that this is not how God see me and I need to live life in the reality of God and the life he gives me…  not someone’s hurtful perception. 

This is also an example of how our un-forgiveness of our brothers and sisters in Christ robs us and others of the life that Jesus paid so dearly to give us.

Do we comprehend the grace of God?  Psalm 103:10 “He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.”  Have you ever felt that things weren’t working out for you and you figured that maybe it was God punishing you… ?    I do this all the time but it is wrong! God does not do this- the cross took that away.  Jesus took that punishment.   

The cross was vital, and the powers and principalities operating meant it to be death and destruction.   But that death was only part one of the story.  Our debts are all paid.  We are loved and we are free.  Resurrection is coming….

 If we do not accept the gift of freedom and actually live the life that Jesus came to bring us, then Jesus’ sacrifice was in vain.  Let us this day, determine to step into that way of abundant God given life.  Let us determine to also set free the captives who have not understood the grace of God…. Let go and forgive them, just as Christ has forgiven us… set them free and live free and rejoicing in the knowledge of the abundant love of God.   He loves you so much and says, YOU are WORTH DYING for!