11th Sunday after Pentecost 25th August 2019 What gets you bent out of shape ?

PROPER 16 (21) Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost Year C August 25, 2019

• Jeremiah 1:4-10 and Psalm 71:1-6  •   Hebrews 12:18-29  •   Luke 13:10-17

What is it that gets you bent out of shape?

In each of our readings, we see a duality.  In Jeremiah we read that he was given authority to “pluck up and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant."  

In our Gospel reading we see that Jesus sets Free the lady who was bound – the binding and loosing was authority that was also part of being a Pharisee… but more on that later, and our Hebrews reading speaks of our God who consumes, but we are reassured that we are receiving an unshakable (or in-consumable) Kingdom.

Recently I noticed the advertisements for the show, “This time next year”.  There is a story about a girl with Turrets syndrome.  Apparently not everyone with turrets has this compulsion to swear and curse – But it was this aspect that caught my attention because it just seemed so completely extreme…  She would say how she loved her mother and then swear and say she hated her and make rude signs with her hands.

A small percentage of Turrets sufferers have this thing called Coprolalia, which is compulsive and uncontrollable swearing and obscene gestures.  Once upon a time this was thought to be of the devil and it is easy to understand why.  However those who suffer turrets describe the impulse as being like an itch that you try not to scratch.   The more you try not to, the more intensely that you feel you must.

Then I saw another advertisement for a girl with extreme turrets, such that she hit herself and pulled out most of her hair.  Both of these cases struck me as being so incredibly debilitating and sad.  Neither could live any semblance of a normal life and both were quite young.

Our Gospel story brings to mind these girls as I read about the lady who was bent over for 18 years.  I’ve had enough injuries to know how debilitating it can be in suffering the short time until recovery.  It is hard to imagine the extreme debilitation of being bent over for 18 years.

Our readings say that it was a spirit that kept her bent over for all this time.

There are many things that keep us bent out of shape.  For some it is a physical ailment and for others it is the mental/ emotional ailment of depression or other mental illness.  One thing for certain – 18 years of suffering is no passing fad or trivial condition.  This is a lifetime of lost joy. 

When it comes to illnesses there are so many “shoulds”.  People tend to have sympathy for a moment and then turn to telling these people what they “Should” do.  The reason is that we cannot even bear the pain of sympathy for too long and want to “fix” the person – In doing this we are acting toward them as if they have the control and they can do it.  It is important that Jesus says that a spirit had kept her crippled, because this means she was oppressed by something outside of herself and outside of her control – she could do nothing herself to “fix” it.

For 18 years this lady had not been able to straighten up.  She is described as a daughter of Abraham, meaning that she belonged to the community, yet we know that any infirmity was generally seen as a sign of sin and a reason for exclusion in that time and place, and that particular community.  18 years is a long time to be crippled.

According to the Jewish encyclopedia, The power of binding and loosing was always claimed by the Pharisees. Josephus reports that("B J." i, 5, § 2),the Pharisees "became the administrators of all public affairs so as to be empowered to banish and re-admit whom they pleased, as well as to loose and to bind."  http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/3307-binding-and-loosing

Jesus uses these same words in his conversation with the Pharisees.  The Pharisees were like a clique, keeping people from experiencing community and life.  They ensured that only those of whom they approved were admitted and others were forbidden. – That is, bound.

Not only was this woman bound by the spirit that kept her physically bent, but by the religious authorities who also kept her from being part of the community.  Therefore, she was twice bound – once by the spirit that kept her crippled and then again by the religious authorities.

Jesus used those same words, giving authority to bind and loose, to his followers, but unlike the Pharisees Jesus did not get these opposites of binding and loosing out of balance.   The Pharisees were overly zealous in binding – or forbidding.  That which Jesus bound – or forbade was unclean spirits and injustices, so that people were set free.  Jesus healed the woman and set her free – restoring her in body, and in the community of faith.

The Pharisees objected, and complained that Jesus was breaking the Sabbath rest by healing the woman.  Can you imagine?  Imagine that this is you and you’ve been ostracized by the church for 18 years… and crippled for 18 years.  Suddenly God heals you.   The church doesn’t rejoice, but instead objects because this healing is done on the wrong day.

Today’s question must be; are there people bent out of shape because we have bound them, where God would have set them free? 

In reality, the Pharisees thought they were following God’s command to keep his house holy by not permitting any infirmity.  They felt comfortable that they had worked out how God works, what he commands, and their life was neatly secure in their shared belief.  Do we do the same?  Day in and day out we all have our routines and in those routines we have a sense of security, but is this what God is calling us to do – feel safe and secure in our routine of church and belief, or does he want us to actually go out into the world and reach out to those who are bent out of shape because they have felt the church cutting them off?

Are we going to bind and loose the way Jesus did and set people free?  Or will we abuse the authority that we have been given by being gate-keepers who carefully choose who can be part of our church?  And you know, when we do set free the way that Jesus did, it will cause all the ruckus for us that it did for him.  The freedom of Christ will often mean we need to enter into some challenging conversations and debate with each other.  Paul and Peter certainly had a heated debate, so we will need to bravely, respectfully and lovingly be part of these discussions also. 

This brings to mind two things… Firstly, my mum telling my Dad that there are two things you should not talk about in polite company – Politics and Religion – He absolutely loves to talk about both.  And secondly, a facebook meme which states: “Being taught not to talk about politics and religion has led to a lack of understanding about politics and religion.  What we should have been taught was how to have a civil conversation about a difficult topic.”

Being part of the discussion is scary.   Jeremiah was scared, but was told not to say, “I’m just a boy, I don’t know how to speak”. 

I have a very good friend who often makes comments about his lack of literacy skills.  He is one of our Street Chaplains and has been a huge encouragement to me.  I know that he often feels insecure about being a leader because of his literacy limitations, but I often smile when he speaks, because I can see the way that God has given him just the right words, the right wisdom – and most importantly, the right heart.   It is obvious to me that God has called him to be where he is and do what he does and even to be in a place of leadership.  Just like Jeremiah, he is acutely aware of his short comings.  But God says to him and to us… have courage, don’t say, ”I’m just a child”.

In Jeremiah 1:8-9 we read; “Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, says the LORD." Then the LORD put out his hand and touched my mouth; and the LORD said to me, "Now I have put my words in your mouth.”

There is a difference between having our say and speaking God’s word.  But each of us has been called by God to have a relationship with God and to have his Spirit living within us, teaching us, and leading us into all truth.  This means we have something to say and it is vital that we say it. 

We proclaim the Good News of Salvation and the world needs the light of Christ, the love of Christ, and to be set free by the truth of the Gospel.  It is the Good News and truth of Jesus Christ that truly sets all free – we need to speak it.

An important aspect that I learn from looking at Jeremiah’s story, the story of our Gospel lady, and by observing my friend, is that emphasis to build up and to plant.   In other words, to encourage and set free.  When we speak and disagree, we are often doing so, to bind a wrong action or ideology, and our focus is on the negative instead of challenging ourselves to focus on setting free the correct action and ideology which sets all free.

We are here now – part of the Church to whom Jesus gave the authority to bind and loose.  Looking further into what is meant by this binding and loosing, we find that it is implied that we are working in agreement with what God has already done.  Speaking the words and claiming the victory which has already been won.

All this tells me that more than anything we need to know that Christ has brought us victory and we stand on this unshakable Kingdom that we are receiving.  We also need to know the heart of God – which is love - is about building up.  Remember that verse much later in the book of Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Our second reading from the letter to the Hebrews assures us of the hope and future that God has prepare for us, and it is an unshakable kingdom. He knew us before we were born and destined this for us.

The lady in the Gospel reading was set free on the Sabbath day.  The Sabbath was a day of rest, and we can rest because the work of loosing is not initiated with us. We are simply responding and claiming that which God has already done.  The question is; what consequence is there if we do not respond to what God has already done… what consequence is there for not setting people free and therefore not responding to God’s voice?

This is a covenant of love and forgiveness, yet we need to listen to the one who speaks from heaven –We who belong to God should recognise his voice because we belong to him. 

So I ask again, “What has you bent out of shape”?  And I add, “Where do you see others bent out of shape and how can we proclaim the truth to set us all free”?

July 28th 2019 Philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe

PROPER 12 (17)  Seventh Sunday after Pentecost  Year C  July 28, 2019

• Hosea 1:2-10 and Psalm 85   •  Colossians 2:6-15, (16-19)  •   Luke 11:1-13

Recently a friend of mine received a slightly riotous response from her post on facebook.  She posted a picture that contained the headshot of many high profile “Christian” leaders.  The accompanying statement was; “Don’t get your Theology from these False Leaders – avoid them”. 

 The riotous response was because most names on the post were well respected and notable leaders who’ve an established and credible ministry.  These are people like Joyce Meyer, who wrote the series of books, “Chicken soup for the soul” and Rick Warren who wrote and developed the book and program, “The Purpose Driven Life”, and also Brian Houston who is the founder and senior pastor of the Hillsong Church.  Is my friend completely losing the plot in her post, or is there something we can learn?

Our first reading comes from the prophet Hosea.  God told him to go and take a prostitute for a wife.  Now, the first lesson for us to learn is, that nothing is ever what it looks on the surface.  On the surface the lives of the prophets often looked like they were either slightly, or way left of the centre.  The exception to this was King David who was popular, respected and although a might warrior and king, gave us the psalms which were often prophetic.  Many prophets had an element of “Not quite fitting in with the mainstream”, yet each prophet, though rejected by many, had a vital message for God’s people and God’s people needed to hear them. 

In the case of Hosea, God chose to figuratively show his relationship with the nation of Israel by using Hosea’s relationship with his wife as a parable. The nation of Israel who had experienced the dynamic salvation of God gave allegiance to all manner of false Gods.  Over and over, God proved himself to them, but they predicably turned again and again to falsehood.

We read the stories and we can be amazed at the infidelity of the Israelite nation and we find it hard to fathom that they turned away to these hollow and empty gods, but let us look more closely at the subtlety and we may just find that we have been in danger of doing the same.

The idolatry in which the Israelites were engaged, originated from King Jeroboam.  He had been made king after King Solomon’s son had decided to harshly tax the people. The people revolted and followed Jeroboam instead and kingdom of Israel was divided and became two Kingdoms -  the kingdom of Judah and the kingdom of Israel.  Then in 1st Kings 12:26 we read:  “Jeroboam thought to himself, “The kingdom will now likely revert to the house of David.  If these people go up to offer sacrifices at the temple of the LORD in Jerusalem, they will again give their allegiance to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah. They will kill me and return to King Rehoboam.”

After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves. He said to the people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.”  One he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan.  And this thing became a sin; the people came to worship the one at Bethel and went as far as Dan to worship the other.”

Basically he gave the people simplicity.  He didn’t want to risk losing his position of power and popularity and so he compromised. 

Do you recall another person who made a golden calf?  Aaron and the Israelites made a golden calf while Moses was on the mountain of God receiving the law.  After a little research, it seems that neither Jeroboam, nor Aaron intended the calf to represent anything other than Yahweh.  They simply felt that the people needed a visible expression of their God.  The calf was the obvious choice as the zodiac symbol of Taurus was understood at the ruler – ie… in their minds this represented Yahweh. 

Over the years there have been and are still many who use the zodiac to predict and understand the world around us.  It is said that this is how the three wise men came to be looking for Jesus.  We would assume then that there is some truth within this, but beware, God’s initial response to the Israelites who created the image of the calf was to completely wipe them out and build his nation from Moses instead.  Seems an extreme response to something we would think as trivial – therefore we need to sit up and take notice.

These people had just been led out of captivity in Egypt by incredible miracles and tangible signs such as the cloud that went with them (God’s presence), leading and protecting them.  Why would you seek the signs in the heavens for direction and ask the stars of the heaven when you have direct access to God almighty?

In our Gospel reading we are told; “"…Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.  For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.”

This follows the disciples request for Jesus to teach them how to pray.

Jesus answer to the disciples is what we all know as The Lord’s Prayer.  He starts by addressing God as Father.  This is significant because it tells us the relationship we have with the almighty God is a loving and personal one.   “Hallowed be your name” – a reminder that while we can be close and familiar with God, God is God, holy and honoured.  We also should pray for God’s will over all – in other words, that God’s kingdom come.  This is something we need to pray for ourselves… that God’s kingdom reign in us.  It is an essential element for Christians in prayer to submit to the Lordship and sovereignty of Christ. 

God is concerned about our day to day needs and so we pray, “Give us each day our daily bread”.
Now for the tricky one; “and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us.”  God has forgiven us, but wants us to remember we need to therefore be forgiving to those around us.  Our forgiveness of another does not depend on the other person’s repentance.  It is about realizing that we too have failed to be perfect and have been forgiven much.  We need to comprehend that others are complex being that we can’t possibly hope to understand and simply let go.  This is a very difficult subject because we need to understand that forgiveness does not mean we allow these people to continue to abuse us.  It does mean understanding that we are all limited in our ability to do good.

Finally we are exhorted to pray, “And do not bring us to the time of trial."  A reminder that there will be a time of divine judgement and in this there will be a time of persecution.  It brings to mind a reality that some are martyred for their faith.  It reminds us to be sure about who we are and whose we are, and acknowledges that we are not able to stand the trial except by the grace of God…. A humbling acknowledgement.

In all of this I’m certain The Lord’s Prayer was not meant to be formulated, such that it becomes something one parrots and thinks they’ve attained a perfect prayer, yet a quick google search shows that some believe there are special requests granted by saying certain prayers a certain way for a certain amount of times. The internet is full of what prayers to pray for a miracle.  Prayer does bring about miracles but not because of the prayer…. But because of the person to whom the prayer is addressed. 

It seems that as humans we have a natural tendency to twist the good things of God and not quite understand.  Just like the Israelites who though well-intentioned, made the golden calf, and looked for answers in God’s creation, we can get caught in the trappings of structure and tradition, thinking that these are the way to spirituality when God is there all along wanting us to simply come to him… as we would a child to a father.

Our second reading which comes from Colossians 2 tells us; “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.  See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ.” 

Are there philosophies and empty deceits that take us captive?  Just doing a quick search on a book written by one of the men on my friend’s list, Brian Houston and I see the title is; “YOU NEED MORE MONEY”.   Sounds pretty good, and I know that there is this thing called “Prosperity doctrine”.   Don’t get me wrong, God does desire good for us, but there has been a section of Christianity that has pushed this philosophy and converted many influential young business people.  In fact these churches greatly appeal to that demographic and all their leaders are between certain ages and look a certain way – which should straight away raise the red flag of danger.  One of the reviews on the book said this:  “There are many interpretation problems in this book. The author has not seriously studied the Scriptures, but simply read into them whatever he so desired. There is not one reference to any commentator in the whole book or any other scholarly resource. The author has greatly disrespected Scripture. He has skewed interpretations of the parable of the prodigal son, numerous verses in Proverbs, the rich young ruler, etc.  I would suggest to not buy this book, because that way, you'll have more money!”

When we don’t have a strong understanding of God’s word or of theology we can very easily be led astray.  Many good and genuine Christians have followed these philosophies and I am probably insulting many right now by saying what I am, but to soften the blow a little, let me also say, any of us can get it wrong and from day to day we do get it wrong.

My apology to Brian Houston as a person, because I assume that he is a well-intentioned person and has probably led many to faith.  There are many things I don’t know and can’t judge, but then again, I also assume King Jeroboam was well- intentioned when he built the calves.   After all, it was a prophet who anointed him as King and foretold of his kingdom.  Surely, in Jeroboams mind, to keep the people unified in his kingdom was a good thing.  BUT it was a vile perversion of God’s truth.

There are many other “Sacred Cows” in our modern philosophy.  We’ve explored the problem and what we need it the solution.

At the conclusion to our Gospel reading Jesus mentions the Holy Spirit.  It seems to be almost out of place with the rest of the text, but its position there is a climax and once I realize, then I need to go back and make sense of the whole text according to this new piece of information.

The Holy Spirit is uniquely involved in effective prayer and it is a gift that Jesus says is good.  But in order to show how very willing God is to gift us with the Holy Spirit, Jesus tells the story of someone who goes after midnight to a friend, and asks for 3 loaves of bread.  Jesus shows that even a selfish man will grant the request.  There is a misleading word – Persistence.  A better translation, according to my research, is actually “shamelessness”.

There is a certain amount of humility in asking for help.  Not only do we acknowledge our need when we ask for help, but we acknowledge our failure and inability to be self-sufficient.  Do we sometimes fail to ask God for the Holy Spirit because we are too proud to admit that we need such help?

Jesus told his followers that he would send a helper… the Holy Spirit.  Have we actually asked God to give us the Holy Spirit?  I know we are all anointed with the oil at our baptism and confirmation, but have we asked for, and sought the Holy Spirit?  The Holy Spirit was sent because it was absolutely necessary that we have this help.

There are many, many, many empty philosophies that come through society and the church and we take these on as Gospel.  One long held one is that we need to love ourselves before we can love others.  It is only a slight twist but it puts the emphasis on ourselves instead of God and others.  In other verses Jesus says that we are to love others as he loves us.  We love others because God has first loved us.  As far as a focus on self – we are told to consider ourselves dead to sin – therefore as far as our “self” is concerned the focus is to consider it crucified with Christ – yet understand that so great is God’s love for us that he willingly suffered and died on the cross.

A more contemporary pop culture making its way into the church is that Men are from Mars and women are from Venus – Our scriptures tell us that in Jesus all are one.  It is psychology and not theology, but these things become so accepted that Christian people take it on as fact.  Genesis tells us that woman was made from man – therefore we are of the same substance and any lack of understanding needs to be faced in the truth that we are essentially all more alike than we are different and should be striving to understand each other in the way that God directs. 

It was a Christian that brought us the books about love languages.  Maybe we do show love in different ways, but if someone doesn’t understand that what you are trying to express is love, I suggest you really are not loving or considering the other person at all.  On street Chaplaincy people know that we love because we are there and we don’t need to say anything – our actions convey the message.  If we use the excuse that someone doesn’t know we love them because their love language is different, then we are possibly not truly loving at all, and this book has just given us an excuse instead of a challenge.  And I call it a hollow philosophy and an empty deceit. 

And then we heard about the law of attraction otherwise known as the secret…  The key phrase of the philosophy of the secret with its law of attraction is “Ask, Believe and Receive”.   Sounds kind of familiar doesn’t it?  Sounds kind of scriptural, and we do well to remember that Satan masquerades as an instrument of light, with counterfeit philosophies that seem good, wholesome, and sound a lot like God’s words.   Many Christians take on ways of prayer that sound just like this, innocently thinking that they are doing things correctly.  Hopefully we can see that all these philosophies lead us away from honest communicating with God.  They are all about finding a way to control without submitting in humility to God, relying on and trusting in him.

Every now and then a simple philosophy that seems good and right comes along but who can we trust to tell us what is right and wrong if all those wonderful Christian leaders have been led astray at some point?

Ask and you will receive, seek and you will find… The man who gave bread to his neighbour gave grudgingly, but this highlights the difference between what we expect and the reality of God’s way – God gives us the Holy Spirit eagerly and the Holy Spirit helps us to discern what is good and true, and what is not.

If we are overly critical of everyone we might not hear the wisdom they have to offer.  Every Christian with the Holy Spirit has the ability to be taught directly by God – therefore we need to listen to each other, but we are not meant to blindly believe. 

Both the word of God and the Holy Spirit are needed and without one or the other we will surely be led astray.  Jesus who is the physical “word of God” told us that HE is the way, the truth and the life – no one comes to the father except through him.

There will be persecutions and hardships in the end times, but I suspect we might already be in them.  This is a time where those who quote the Bible lose their contract and parts of our country have passed laws to terminate life, seemingly on a whim.  Our simplistic morals are challenged and the very nature of nature is questioned.  We might not be thrown to the physical lions but there are golden calves in every corner. 

The golden calf claims to represent truth – and even represent the one true God, claiming that we all worship the same God, but there is only one way to really discern and that is by shamelessly, (humbly) asking God for the gift of His Holy Spirit.  He gives it willingly, freely and eagerly.  Just ask.

23rd June 2019 Rejection, Acceptance, Mental health, Mission.

PROPER 7 Second Sunday after Pentecost, Year C, June 23, 2019

1 Kings 19:1-4, (5-7), 8-15a and Psalm 42 and 43   •  Galatians 3:23-29  •  Luke 8:26-39

When you think of “church”, who are the people you imagine that to be?  Traditionally it is an image of clean living and good people.  Safe people who are more or less just like us.  Today’s readings challenge us to expand our thinking about who belongs in our church, what kinds of people can be in ministry, and the readings also show us that not everyone will accept the message of Salvation.

Acceptance and rejection are themes that run through our readings.  Think about what these mean for us personally.  How does it make us feel when we are accepted…. and when we are rejected? 

There was recently a facebook meme that read; “A man went to Church.  He forgot to switch off, and his phone rang in the church accidentally during prayer.  The Pastor scolded him.  The worshippers admonished him after prayers for interrupting the silence.  His wife kept on lecturing him on his carelessness all the way home.  One could see the shame, embarrassment and humiliation on his face.  After all this, he never stepped foot in the church again.  AND… that evening he went to a bar.  He was still nervous and trembling and he spilt his drink on the table by accident.  The waiter apologized and gave him a napkin to clean himself.  The janitor mopped the floor.  The female manager offered him a complimentary drink.  She also gave him a huge hug and a peck while saying, “Don’t worry man.  Who doesn’t make mistakes?”  He has not stopped going to that bar since then….”

The lesson is clear.  At the church he was rejected, but at the pub he was completely accepted.  The meme makes it clear that our acceptance or rejection, regardless of how subtle, speaks volumes.  They are powerful forces that can impact a person’s sense of well-being forever.

Well-being is a bit of a hot topic at the moment with many workshops and discussions happening in businesses and schools.  Both our first reading and our Gospel reading could be commented on in the light of well-being and mental health. 

Our first reading speaks of a mighty prophet.  He had just done something incredible – or more correctly, God had just done something incredible but Elijah was the messenger and right there in the thick of it.  If it were to be a movie it would have been shown as a monumental and victorious climax, yet it left Elijah exhausted and frightened.  I so love this story of Elijah.  You see, Elijah was prophet (one who gave God’s message to the people), and he had been true to God and zealous for God’s truth, but he people didn’t want the truth and Elijah was rejected….  and rejected …. and rejected….  and he felt completely alone.  He was called by God to deliver a message that was accompanied, and proved true, by very great wonders, but immediately after he runs into the desert fearing for his life and worn out.

Have you experienced rejection?  It is exhausting.  Rejection has an effect on its victim such that you can’t just ignore and keep doing your own thing because the effect of rejection is debilitating.  i.e. YOU CAN’T JUST GET OVER IT !   Experiencing prolonged rejection we may become edgy, suffer from anxiety, suffer from depression, worry excessively, analyse excessively, become overly sensitive, withdraw and alienate from those we love.   Here we see the great Elijah, running into the desert and crying out to God to take his life.

I really love the way the Bible is full of very real people with the whole range of emotions.  We do well to examine what we might have said to Elijah.  Imagine that this is your friend who is in the desert running away from society.  We would probably have said, “Hey Elijah, you are not really alone”.  (Even though Elijah says he is the only one left – there are actually others – and he knew about it because in the previous 2 chapters Elijah had met with the palace administrator, Obadiah, who was a devout believer in the Lord.  Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hidden them in two caves). 

We might have said to Elijah – “How can you feel like such a failure, saying you are no better than your ancestors? Look at the amazing victory you have just had!” And we would have added, “I know the Queen wants you dead, (Because she did!) but look at the wonders of God and have faith in him”.    I know that we would have said these things because these are all the logical and rational realities and things we do say…… things we say that DO NOT help a person who is emotionally exhausted and depressed. 

Yes, I said it – Elijah was suffering a kind of burn out and he was depressed.  Here is something else that you need to know.  The Angel came to him and did not say any of those things to him that we would have said.  Instead the Angel came after Elijah had cried out for God to take his life and had fallen asleep.  The Angel came and provided food and urged him to eat.  The Angel let him sleep again, then the Angel provided food and woke him again, acknowledging that the journey ahead would be too much for him if he did not eat.  Elijah slept.  A Lot ! as do people who are depressed. Then, after this second Angelic provision, Elijah continued his Journey for 40 days to the mount of Horeb where the word of the LORD came to him.   The Lord asked him why he was there.  Once again note, he was not told any of those things that we would have told him, but he is given the opportunity to express himself without judgment.

What happens next in the Elijah story is an encounter with God passing by.  Elijah had the word of the Lord come to him often and he had the Angel attending to him, but God’s answer to the exhausted, depressed Elijah was to allow Elijah to express his concern – then God told him to wait in the cleft on the mountain because God was going to pass by.

This mountain that Elijah was on was not just some random mountain, it was Horeb, also known as Sinai, where God had met with Moses.  More interesting than that, it had taken Elijah 40 days to get there.  The encounter is filled with symbolism that tells us this was a preparation time and connected to the Israelites in the desert and also connected to what would be Jesus’ 40 days in the desert.

The exhausted and depressed Elijah was to have a significant encounter with God. There was a violent wind, but God was not in it.  There was an Earthquake, but God was not in it.  Then there was a fire, but God was not in it.  Then there was the silence.  The gentle voice of God speaks and asks Elijah again what he is doing there.  Many times when someone is depressed and hurting they need to say the same thing again and again.  God makes sacred space for this and then gives Elijah his next instructions.

There is a scripture that I really like, it is also from the book of 1 Kings 8:12 when King Solomon was dedicating the temple, “Then Solomon said, "The LORD has said that he would dwell in a dark cloud;..”  Other translations say, a thick darkness.  Why I particularly like this verse is because when people are feeling sad or suffering depression it is like a thick dark cloud is all around you.  To know that God has said he will dwell in a thick dark cloud is hope, love, comfort and companionship in that darkness.  The image is of sacredness being in that darkness.  I believe it conveys the same message as what God was giving Elijah on that mountain in the silence. 

Elijah had known God in the dramatic.  Now Elijah had no energy left.  He felt like a failure and felt void of God, but God very definitely, deliberately and clearly showed him that God would be even more present in those times of silence and darkness.

Fast forward to the time of Jesus.  There was a man from Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee.  This man was an outcast of the city – a mad man, is probably how we would describe him today.  He lived among the tombs and was the stuff of which horror films might be made.  He was described as being demon-possessed and is most certainly what would today be described as a mental health victim. 

This man was suffering.  The townspeople were also suffering and had tried to chain the man but the man with supernatural strength would break the chains and then be led by the demons out into the wilderness.  The man was an outcast, but what could the townspeople do with someone like that?

The demon in the man immediately recognises Jesus for who he is and says, "What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me".  Jesus asks the demon his name and the response is Legion because there were actually many demons possessing this man.

There are so many unanswered questions – how did this happen to the man?  Looking at the symptoms in today’s environment we may have diagnosed him as schizophrenic or maybe as an ICE drug user, as they also react with violent strength. We are not told how this man came to be this way and we will never know, but what we do know is that while today’s society would never list demon possession as the diagnosis, and while many times there are logical medical explanations, there was no doubt that this man was demon possessed.  Yet there was nothing of the drama we see as portrayed in those horror films, the fear is missing, as Jesus appears completely calm.

Once again, instead of telling the man what to do, Jesus is asking.  “He asks who are you?” But instead of the man answering Jesus, the demon answers and says Legion because he is many – a legion at that time was considered to be about 2000…. Certainly the pigs which the demons entered, who then went and killed themselves were about 2000…. A huge loss to the pig farmer.

The town’s people come to find the man in his right mind, clothed and chatting with Jesus.  Here is a picture of what we are like spiritually, when we have received Christ.  Galatians describes those who have been baptized as having been clothed in Christ. And it continues to explain that being clothed in Christ, there is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all are one in Christ Jesus.  And here is real freedom, because baptized into Christ and therefore clothed in Christ we are united with him in the victory that is his and recall that he said in John 14 to his followers; “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.”

Jesus cast out demons and he healed the sick.  Jesus proclaimed the Good News about salvation and signs and wonders followed to prove him true, much the same as the ministry of Elijah. 

The next part of the demon possessed man’s story reminds me of a story from Malta.  I researched and found a town that has a nick-name Ta' saqajhom ċatta -  “flat-footed” – the real name of the town Iż-Żejtun - the people of Zejtun gained their strange flat-footed nickname because they supposedly banged their feet and chased St Paul through the streets of the town because they didn’t want to believe in the teachings of Christianity.  Similarly, the town of Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave.

The people who saw the wonders of God through Elijah, and the people who saw the wonders of God through Jesus with this man, all banged their feet, figuratively, and refused to accept the message of God.  The message is for all, but even if it is accompanied by great signs and wonders there are those who will still reject the message.

After Elijah poured out his concern to the Lord twice – the Lord then gave him his next mission.  After Jesus had cast the demon out of the man at the tomb he gave the man a mission.  He said, “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you." So he went away, proclaiming throughout the city how much Jesus had done for him.”  Both Elijah and the man were tasked with proclaiming the message of God.  Moments of rejection are exhausting and hurtful.  We will need to take some sacred rest time with God, but then get back to the job of proclaiming the Good News.   Don’t give up because of rejection – keep going knowing that we are heirs of the promise and we belong, are cared for, accepted and loved by God.

In society we tend to sanitize our leaders, and reject those who don’t seem to have it all together, but a great person once said to me, “There is great power in being a wounded healer.”  Of all the characters in the Bible who were the Champions for God, pretty much all were somewhat broken.  It isn’t by our own merit that we have peace with God, but by faith in Jesus.  Broken people are acutely aware of their shortcomings and these are the chosen.  You may feel broken too – but blessed are the poor in spirit – the broken…. For theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.   You are chosen and you are called.

Trinity - Does it matter what we believe?

TRINITY SUNDAY – 16^th June 2019

Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31 and Psalm 8  •  Romans 5:1-5  •  John 16:12-15

In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…. And welcome to Trinity Sunday.  The “sign of the cross” is just one of the things that we do which testifies to the Trinity.   But when did it start and where does it come from?  Is the Trinity a Church doctrine or is it Biblical?

In Matthew 28:19 Jesus says to his disciples, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,”   It is there in the Bible, however, I have come across some, who claim to be Christian yet reject the Trinity.  While grateful for their challenge, I usually find that there are other vital facts about our faith that they also reject.  This has taught me that it is essential that we know what we believe and why.  What we believe is Good News, truth and sets us free.  God sent His son, Jesus, to give his life to redeem us. It comes at a price, which shouldn’t be dismissed.  The Good News needs to be safe-guarded.

Right here and now we live in a time when many think like John Lennon, “Imagine no religion. It’s easy if you try. Nothing to live or die for. Above us only sky”.   This is what some believe.  And many Christians who aren’t too worried about the finer details - after all, God is love and he forgives and saves – so does any of it really matter?

Actually it really does matter and it was because it matters that the Doctrine of the Trinity was created.  It may be a church doctrine but every aspect is firmly grounded in scripture and it was formulated for the safe-guarding of the Good News of our faith.

For those who don’t know, the Doctrine of the Trinity was not formally mentioned until the late second century when Theophilus of Antioch mentioned a trinity consisting of God, Word, and Wisdom.  We know Jesus is the word of God and one of the aspects of the Holy Spirit is wisdom.  Yet this version or understanding of the Trinity is not correct and it wasn’t until much later in the fourth century that our formalization of Biblical truth would be written as our creed.

Our first reading today speaks of wisdom and personifies it.  The literary form is poetic personification of a characteristic.  Apparently this is a verse that Jehovah Witnesses use to argue against the doctrine of the Trinity, stating that this is referring to Jesus, and in the text it speaks of wisdom being created by God, therefore they would argue that Christ was created and separate.   https://www.equip.org/article/who-is-wisdom-in-proverbs-8/

Our first reading is simply telling us that when discerning any truth we need divine wisdom.  And we learn that God’s wisdom is far beyond human wisdom.   I would like for us to just for now hold onto the final line, where we see wisdom rejoicing in God’s inhabited world and delighting in the human race.  Why?  Because in the light of so much that we can get wrong, the heresies, the sin, the war and the chaos, this firstly tells us that God is wise and that in His wisdom there is a plan of goodness and victory.  There in the poetry of this reading we find the echoes of God’s love and sovereignty.

In the fourth century, a young Deacon, Athanasius, articulated the Trinity in defence of a heresy being presented by a priest by the name of Arius.  What Athanasius articulated formed the Nicene Creed, which is basically what we proclaim when we affirm the faith of the Church.  We believe in one God…. Etc..   What I note as I go through the creed is that everything that is proclaimed can be proved by scripture.  https://tumi.org/images/nicene-creed-scripture.pdf

Though the term “Trinity” is not used, the evidence of God the father, the son and the Holy Spirit are there all through both the Old and New Testaments.  Can we accept it without really explaining it?  Simply put we believe in One God- One in essence - but three distinct persons.

Recently I’ve been teaching children about beat and rhythm.  I was explaining to them that we can clap the beat and say the rhythm – the rhythm is made up of sounds and sometimes two sounds = one beat and sometimes four sounds equal one beat… and it occurred to me that this is probably as confusing to them as the concept of the Trinity.  How can one God be three persons?

From the beginning of John’s Gospel we read; “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”  Just in case you were in any doubt.  In verse 14 we also read, “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us…”.

A diagram that has been used to describe the trinity shows that God is…. And The father is God, Jesus is God, the Holy Spirit is God… but the father is not the Son or the Holy Spirit, The Holy Spirit is not the Son or the father, and the Son is not the father or the Holy Spirit… Jesus sends the Spirit and prays to the father and now sits at the right hand of the father.  From Matthew 24:36 “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only”.

While it is clear about the deity of Christ, it is also clear there is a distinction in persons of the God-head.

Can human minds comprehend God? 

Jesus knew that it was all too much for his disciples to understand which is why he promised to send the Holy Spirit.  It seems to me that an encounter with the Holy Spirit is what is needed to be able to really understand anything of God.  Remember Paul?  He was struck down and asked who are you Lord?  He was zealous for God before that encounter – and zealously persecuting God’s people, confident in his belief or even, shall we say, wisdom – but his belief was an error, and his human wisdom was folly.

Many people will say that they believe in God.  They aren’t sure about a lot of things, but they suppose that there is a God – but do we realize that the disciples and Paul all believed in God and were powerless without the Holy Spirit?  

When it comes to knowing doctrine and understanding things about God, the disciples had the very best teacher – they had Jesus, but even Jesus says to them that they can’t bare the things that he needs them to know.   He tells them that when the Spirit of truth comes he will guide them into all the truth.

We are living in times that are challenging us, as Christians, to say what we believe about things that we’ve never had to talk about before.  How can we reach out to the world around us in true wisdom?  Only through an encounter with the Holy Spirit.

The church of the future is so very in need of the Holy Spirit.  We are the Church, therefore each of us is so very much in need of the Holy Spirit.  We all need to be consciously asking God to out pour His Holy Spirit on us, because I’m more than sure, a time of great challenge is headed our way… and is already here.  Jesus has sent us His Holy Spirit – past tense!   But is it possible, that it is like a gift we’ve received that is yet to be unwrapped…. Or maybe it has been unwrapped and then put aside while the worries of life take our focus away?

It wasn’t enough for those early Christians to just believe in Jesus and know they were going to heaven.  Jesus knew they needed His Holy Spirit and assured them and exhorted them many times before they did actually receive the Holy Spirit…. And so I say to you/ myself and every Christian – RECEIVE THE HOLY SPIRIT!

Jesus knew a time of persecution was coming for the disciples and the Holy Spirit would be essential.  But is any time any different?  Every life has its challenge, whether personal or as a group or church.  We are always in danger of losing our hope and getting things very wrong, but with the Holy Spirit we know that challenge actually sharpens us and as our Romans reading tells us, suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. 

How is the love in your heart going today?  We know from the Gospel of Matthew that because of the increase of wickedness and false teachings, the love of some will grow cold.  How do we safe guard against this?  We need the Holy Spirit.  And why is it said that God’s love is poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit?  Why love?

Those things that challenge us threaten our love more than anything.  When we need to stand against false teaching, accusations of hate is often the first thing of which we will be accused, and Jesus command is to love.  Also, any of us can easily get it wrong.  We need to be loving with each other but not compromising on the truth.  That section at the end of creed that speaks about believing in the one holy catholic church does not refer to the Roman Catholic Church, but to God’s church which has no denominational tag.  Catholic means Universal.

Understanding the association with challenging beliefs and heresies, and our celebration of the Trinity, one question keeps begging an answer – that question is; Does it matter?  Does it matter what we believe? 

At the core of Christianity is GOOD NEWS, truth, love and freedom. So I ask you, do these things matter?

When God’s love is poured into our hearts we will know what matters and what doesn’t. Exactly describing the Trinity does not matter so much as believing in one God, the father the almighty, God the Son - the word who was with God in the beginning and IS God. And the Holy Spirit of God who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who is sent to live in us.  This is important- This is vital.  Why?

The whole world is asking if and why it matters, and telling us that religion divides. Imagine all the people living for today – it is an old song, but from Eastern mysticism to Islam and from Hinduism to voodoo and witchcraft, does it really matter what we believe?  Hopefully you can see that it does, because some beliefs ARE NOT life-giving.  In the New Testament St. Paul had to stand against various “Not quite right beliefs” and one of them was that Jesus was not really bodily raised from the dead.  These were Christian folk who were believers in God and figured that it was okay to believe this slight difference.  St. Paul’s reply was..; 1 Corinthians 15:19 –“ If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied”. The reason being that they had diminished the Gospel & TRUTH.  Jesus is the way, the TRUTH and the life.

We can say that to some extent anyone who believes in God, shares our belief in God almighty, and many times they do, but Christianity stands completely apart from any other religions in that while all other faiths strive to achieve perfection, our perfect God did for us, what we could not do for ourselves and became one of us and died to give us life.  As our Romans reading declares, “Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” and Jesus has also said that no one comes to the father, except through the son.

One of the travesties of our modern age is that we’ve allowed ignorance of history.  Jesus Christ is thought by a many to be no more than a myth.  Jesus was an historical person of flesh and blood.  He was written about by his followers in the Gospels, but also in many other early sources and most notably by 1st century Jewish historian, Josephus.  Most notably because this is a non-Christian source verifying some aspects about the person we know as Jesus the Son of God.  For the critics to dismiss belief in God and the Holy Spirit is one thing, but to dismiss Jesus is another altogether.  He existed! 

So very, very many people want to dismiss or diminish our faith, and over the years we have given them more and more ground, but on this day we remember that misunderstandings and false teachings have always been around and they cause us to question what it is we do believe and whether it is worth taking a stand for our faith.

Jesus Christ is the visible expression of God.  Jesus was flesh and blood… fully human, yet fully God.  It was because of His claim about himself that the religious of his day crucified him.  But proving himself true, he rose from the dead – He appeared to his disciples and ate with them.  His law is love – he gave a new commandment to love one another as he loved us.  Love does no harm to another.  His sacrifice brought us new life and peace and unity with the father and then He sent us his Holy Spirit to be with us always.

There are many more things that need to be said to make clear the Good News about our faith, but as Jesus said, you cannot bear them now.

When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.

That gift of the Holy Spirit, we need to take off the shelf and properly unwrap.  No wonder the writer of proverbs speaks of wisdom delighting in the human race.  It seems that wisdom was looking down the tunnel of time and seeing the whole plan of God.  There is victory, where we could see none, beginning with the Good News of salvation and continuing in the out pouring of the Holy Spirit.  May we be every day and every moment aware of the extreme Good News of our faith which is a plan unfolding from the beginning of time …. A plan that unfolds in the name of the father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit – Amen – so be it!