To be a faithful steward .... September 18, 2022

 PROPER 20 (25) Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost Year C September 18, 2022

 

Throughout my experience with our lectionary, it never ceases to amaze me at how God uses the set readings to coincide with events.  Here in today’s reading we have the call to pray for everyone, and especially for Kings and rulers.

 

In the last week we have had the death of the Queen.  Mostly we live our lives not thinking too much about the royal family, but for most of our lives the Queen has been there… known as defender of the faith, and maintaining the status quo.  Now the crown will go to her son – the baton will be passed to another.  Do we expect the status quo to remain or do we expect change?  Regardless, we are called to pray for our leaders.

 

It isn’t just for our Monarch, that we are exhorted to pray.  We are to pray for all in high positions and all in leadership.  When our government has an election, we may be personally praying for our preferred person to be elected, but what do we do when the “other” person is elected instead? Hopefully we realize that we need to pray for them. 

 

In these last few years, all of our politicians have been under extreme pressure.  They may have made decisions that we agreed with, and they, more likely, made decisions with which we strongly disagree.  Do we get on our soap box and call out their sins?  Might I suggest, the less we agree with a leader, the more seriously we need to be praying and interceding for them… maybe even fasting and praying.  I emphasize, we ought to pray FOR them – praying God’s blessing and that they come to know His saving grace.

 

It is God’s will that everyone be saved and come in to the knowledge of truth.  Especially that politician with whom we disagree.  It IS God’s will that we live lives that are prosperous and good, and it is also His will that all be saved.  If we are not stepping up and praying for our leaders with whom we disagree, we are not doing that which we are called to do, as made clear by St. Paul.

 

When we pray God’s blessings for those with whom we disagree, it changes things.  In the very least, it changes us.  We become more aware of the humanity… the cares and concerns of the person we are praying for.  We become aware of the other person’s perspectives.   We may still disagree with them, but we may become more understanding and more compassionate towards them.   All in all, it makes the way that we will approach areas of conflict, different, and the way we talk about those people, more the way that God would have us talk.

 

God is trying to tell us something…. What is it?  Here it is, in our reading from Saint Paul.  God desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.  We all have a part to play in this.  Have we forgotten our call to go into all the world, making disciples? and have we become unfaithful stewards of the riches we’ve been given?  We are the managers in God’s kingdom.  All of us in the church are called to play a part in passing on the Good News about Jesus Christ coming to save all people.  How are we going with this?  Are the people that God has put in our charge, saying the same as those we read about in the words of Jeremiah; “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.”?

 

Imagine that…  Not consciously, but spiritually, there are people that we are meant to be sharing the Good News with and their spirits cry out, “we are not saved”.   These are people who, in the plan of God, we are meant to impact their lives…

 

We, the church, have been entrusted with the riches of salvation and the knowledge of truth.  We know that we belong to God and have assurance of his love.  We have the knowledge of God’s ways, and knowledge of what he says is good and what is not, and we understand his heart of love.  Yet, to put it in terms of the Gospel reading; have we “halved the bill”….watered down the Gospel, made friends with the ruler of deception, by showing that we can be cunningly deceitful such that we are accepted by all, and not been faithful with the true riches of God’s grace, mercy and truth?  There is a song we will sing later with words, “Then the glory of the cross is a propaganda gloss.” (God of Jeremiah)

 

I don’t have the answer to this question, but I pose it, because this seems to be the challenge in our readings for today.

 

Our Gospel reading seems confusing at first.  At a glance it seems to be in support of the dishonest worker.  However, the parable is told to explain the difference in attitude.  A dishonest worker has an attitude that is completely self-focused.  He is not concerned at all about the master, or the master’s wealth, but he is concerned about insuring his own position.  The dishonest manager “Made Friends” much the same as a mafia manager might do so.  He cut their debts to another, but in doing so, he ensured that they became indebted to himself.  Exactly like we see in the movies, where someone is in debt over their head and bailed out, only to find themselves indebted in a more sinister way. 

 

Our attitude needs to be completely different.  Our priorities must centre around God’s concerns, and we need to have a heart that reflects God’s priorities, rather than our own.

 

There is a story about a preacher on the Titanic, John Harper.  John led his young daughter to a life boat and, being a widower, was entitled to get on that life boat with her, but instead he chose to provide the masses, who were drowning, the chance to know Christ.  There was an officer who rebuffed him.  John could have been offended and left that officer for dead, but instead he gave the officer his own life jacket, stating that the officer needed it more than him.  He swam to as many people as he could, sharing the message of Christ and eventually died.  Four years later, at a survivor’s meeting, one man testified that he was the last convert of John Harper.

 

John Harper had the heart and the priorities of Christ.  He knew that he was secure in the love of God and saved by the sacrifice of Jesus.  This life is important, but nothing about this life is more important than being saved by Christ and secure in the knowledge of the truth.

 

At this point we need to reflect on just what it is about our personal relationship with God that makes it important.  There are many stories about people who were terrible sinners and when they were introduced to the love and mercy of God they responded with repentance.    The Bible tells us it is the kindness and love of God that brings people to repentance.  We need to understand that people experience the love and kindness of God through us. 

 

Though there are people, acutely aware of their failings, there are many more people who, though they occasionally stuff up, their sins are nothing so startling, yet these people also respond with absolute dedication to God.

 

Consider King David.  He was known as a man after God’s own heart.  Or consider even Jeremiah the Prophet from whom we read today… or countless other prophets and people who have been prepared to, or even given their life for the truth and Good News of God.  I think there is really just one thing in common.  All had a knowledge of the truth of God and all understood his goodness.

 

God is!  Those who know God, know that he is the ultimate reality and all of this world finds its meaning and reason only in the light of that fact.  The fact that this very real God loves us is the Good News.  There is always an aspect of realization of one’s imperfections when we come face to face with the reality of God, but the love of God that we experience through the sacrifice of Jesus is truly Good News.  Christianity is unique in that God came down as one of us to save us.  He showed us his great love and did for us what we can not do for ourselves.  The love of God is constant and it is promised that there is nothing, neither Angels, demons, things present or things to come that can separate us from the love of God that we have through Christ Jesus.

 

This is the key.  Those who have experienced the love of God are those who have impacted the lives of others with that love of God.  John Harper knew the love of God and we know his name today and his amazing story of preaching as the titanic sunk.  Saint Paul made history with his fearless preaching in so many places, some also coincidentally with the back drop of sinking ships.

 

We need to search the scriptures, pray and ask God to reveal his deep and abiding love for us.  When we know this love, God will be our only master and we will respond by reaching out in love to others…. We will be faithful stewards.

Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners

 Fourteenth After Pentecost - Year C YOU CAME FOR ME!

 

In Arabia and the Sahara there is a particular wind condition they call Samum.  There is a different kind of wind that they utilise to separate the wheat from the chaff, but when the Samum blows it destroys, and human life becomes intolerable.  The temperature of this wind condition often reaches 55 °C and the humidity of the air sometimes falls below 10 percent.

The prophet, Jeremiah, uses this image to describe the army that is to come against God’s people where the good and the bad will be swept away together.  It is an extreme picture that he paints when he says, “I looked on the earth, and lo, it was waste and void; and to the heavens, and they had no light”. Etc..

What’s more upsetting is that this event is described as being sent by God because of his fierce anger.  It is from readings like this that people, understanding superficially, may come to know God as a wrathful God and not one of love.

 

It is important to understand more deeply, just what is going on here.  It is written for our benefit and it is written because of God’s grace and love.  It is never God’s intention to destroy or harm us, but sin is not tolerated. It separates us from God, causes harm and destroys relationships.  

 

Often it seems that we shape God to fit our own convenient image.  This reading from Jeremiah reminds us that there are times when God says, “enough”.  It is much like a parent who will warn and warn and warn children and finally follow through with consequence.  Jeremiah speaks of God’s judgement.  God has a right to judge and he is the only one really qualified to do so. 

Jeremiah speaks God’s words and says, ‘For my people are foolish, they do not know me; they are stupid children, they have no understanding. They are skilled in doing evil, but do not know how to do good.’ 

Understand what is happening here.  This is not a wrathful God.  This is a patient and loving God who has warned and warned and guided, but the people refused direction.  The people were doing evil.  When evil is done, people are hurt.  Imagine someone harming your own children.  Would you not also make a judgement, put your foot down and demand a consequence?  God’s actions, even his judgements, are because of love.

 

How do you see the nature of God?

 

In many ancient cultures the gods were wrathful and needed sacrifices to appease them.  In the Israelite culture sacrifices were all pointed to repairing relationships.  There were the sacrifices to atone for sin and also offerings of thanksgiving… an acknowledgment of giving to God that which he had given to them.  All in all, it was a way of staying in right relationship with each other and God.  Most importantly the sacrifice of the Lamb of God at the time of the Passover was a foreshadow of the sacrifice of Jesus.  Involved in the annual Passover ceremony is an interesting part, where drops of wine are taken from the cup and placed on a plate.  It is to symbolize the plagues experienced by the Egyptians and an acknowledgement of the pain and suffering of those people who were the enemies of the people of God.  Do we have such empathy for our enemies?

 

God is God.  He is beyond our understanding and, though he has all power and authority, He treats us with so much mercy and grace, beyond what we deserve and so much so that he willing came as the son of God, suffered and died for us.

Saint Paul was someone who hurt God’s people.  Not only did he hurt them, he was instrumental in their death.  It was Paul who petitioned to chase down the Christians and at whose feet, those who stoned the martyr, Stephen, laid their cloaks. Paul was surprised that God accepted him and amazed at the grace he received.

 

It truly is beyond our comprehension.  Perhaps it is true that our own experiences of human interactions colour our understanding.  How can we believe in such a merciful and gracious God if we have not experienced mercy and grace from others?  Mostly we expect God to be wrathful because mercy and grace are beyond our normal experience with authority figures. 

 

I do not know what experiences St. Paul had before surrendering his life to God, but we do know that he was from an influential family, a free citizen of Rome, a zealous Pharisee, and he was an eloquent and very well-educated man.  Paul thought he was doing God’s work when he was persecuting Christians, and his conversion was possibly the most dramatic in the Bible.  God spoke directly to Paul and a strong light from God blinded him.  Paul became immediately aware of his sin.  It was sin done in ignorance, but still sin.  Paul says that God’s acceptance of him shows us the extend of God’s love, grace and mercy, as he describes himself as a foremost sinner.  A similar sentiment shared by the writer of Amazing Grace, John Newton (former slave trader).  Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, and as a sinner, I am most grateful.

 

The sinners of Jesus time accepted the grace and mercy of God most readily, yet those who claimed to be working at promoting God’s kingdom often rejected him, sometimes simply because he seemed to be accepting the sinners.  I am wondering if these people also had an innate sense that God was a God of wrath.  They had been taught that God was all good and only the good could enter the kingdom of God, so it stands to reason that their image of God was such, that he would exclude people.  Surely, those who were not perfect could not enter the kingdom of God, and those who could be easily named as sinners were, pretty obviously, those who would be excluded.

 

I hope we know that none of us is perfect.

 

I suspect that deep down we all know this.  Those of us belonging to the church, also deeply believe in the truth of God and that God being perfect only accepts the perfect into his kingdom, and we have a fear that we don’t measure up.  We believe that Jesus came to save us and we believe that God loves us.  Or do we?

 

I ask this and bring this to our attention because I personally have struggled to believe that the God of the universe could personally love this one single person here – me!  And when things in my life go wrong, I immediately use it as proof to myself that I’m not good enough and God is punishing me.  Maybe I’m an oddity and I’m the only one like this, but I suspect I’m not, and that others feel this way too.

 

You know, I’m actually not afraid to look at these uncomfortable feelings and fears, because I do know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God is gracious and merciful, and he does love and accepts me, and he does love and accept you.

 

Saint Paul personally experienced the surprising mercy of God.  He knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that God accepts us.  In our Gospel story Jesus tells a parable about leaving the 99 sheep to find the lost one.  The point of the story was to explain to the pharisees that those so called sinners, were the precious ones that God was going after, to look for, to find and to save.  Who, in the story, do you relate to?  Who are you in this story?  Are you the pharisee – one of the 99 sheep, drifting along, feeling invisible in the crowd? or are you the lost one?

 

We need to understand that each of us is meant to read this story, putting ourselves into the position of the lost sheep.  We are not invisible to God… we are the “ONE”.  Jesus searches for us… he not only finds and saves us, but he is the author and perfector of our faith…  he teaches us and guides us and keeps us.

None of us is perfect, but that is why Jesus came, suffered, died and rose again.  It was a plan for God to have us so united with Jesus through our baptism, that our identity is Christ.  We are clothed in Christ and therefore, in him, we are perfect.  We are accepted.  Love, grace and mercy is all ours.  We need not fear or feel invisible or not good enough.  We need not be afraid and wonder if we are good enough to be accepted by God….  It isn’t about being good enough, but the fact that our identity is in Christ.

 

As Christians we strive to do what is right, but not because we are expecting judgement, but because what is right is what is loving and we, through our baptism, have the nature of Jesus.  The Holy Spirit in us is the Spirit of Jesus, influencing, teaching and encouraging us to be Christ like. 

 

As a singer, I was once told that the art of good singing was to “get out of the way” and let our natural voice out.  In other words, our inhibitions, bad posture etc, can get in the way of letting our voice naturally flow out.  In the same way, we as Christians have the Holy Spirit… God within us.  We also need to learn to “get out of the way” and let the Holy Spirit work and flow naturally through us.  That might be as simple as adding to our morning prayer, “Christ, work through me this day”.  God gave us free will and we will always have it, but if we want God to work through us, we need to give him permission.

 

Jesus came into the world to save the sinners.  Note also that the lost sheep was part of the flock….  Jesus welcomed the worst of sinners, but he deliberately uses this parable to show that he came for you and for me.  We are Jesus hands and feet… we are the body of Christ…  Will you give Christ permission to work through you and continue his saving grace and mercy, seeking out the lost and bringing them back to the fold?   Lord Jesus, live through me this day and always.  AMEN.

Blinded by perceptions. Reflection for August 21, 2022

 PROPER 16 (21)  Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost  Year C  August 21, 2022

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

It might seem to us, that these ancient people were a little dim.  Surely, they could understand the sense in Jesus’ healing of the crippled woman.  On the Sabbath they would untie their donkeys and lead it away to give it water.  These were their work animals, not pets, and they needed to be cared for.  Yet the simple act of Jesus curing a crippled woman on the Sabbath… well to put it in today’s terms, it was simply not politically correct.  You just didn’t do those kinds of things on the Sabbath!  Actually, those kinds of things didn’t happen everyday… this was a miraculous healing and Jesus was causing a stir.  

As far as the matter of the Sabbath goes, it is possible that today we have thrown out the baby with the bath water… in a manner of speaking.  We have long been aware that Jesus did all kinds of good works on the Sabbath and so we don’t really bother worrying about keeping the Sabbath “holy”. 

For many years, both Saturday and Sunday were days of limited trading, partly in respect for a time of rest and church attendance.  But that has almost all disappeared.  I notice that since covid and staff shortages that some businesses are choosing to only open for certain days or times…  and we are all fatigued.   We threw out the baby with the bath water, it seems, and paid the price of exhaustion, until covid hit and gave us an excuse – a valid one, to claim back a time of rest.  But we have yet to understand how to make that a holy time.

It’s not just those ancient people who were a little dim.  We all have times of not being able to see the good from the bad of things clearly, our eyes being blinded by the many attractions and temptations of ideas and opinions other than those from God.

This crippled lady had been suffering for 18 years.  I always imagined that this was an elderly lady, but there is actually nothing to indicate her age.  If she was an elderly lady here today, would we be less inclined to beg Jesus for her healing?  I have noticed a tendency in the dental/ medical and other professions that sometimes things are seen as less important because you are older.  We put braces on an eight year old’s teeth, concerned about how the teeth look, yet there is not the same concern in the appearance or care for an older man or woman.

On the flip side, we greatly care about our animals.  We have insurance and spend time and money ensuring they are cared for and yet some of our elderly (and not so elderly) men and women are left forgotten on the streets.  Do we, figuratively or literally, send them away without so much as a cup of tea on a cold winter’s morning?   You know, it is never as simple as it sounds. 

Street Chaplaincy is not a ministry to the homeless, as we work mostly with those in the night clubs, however we do regularly run into the homeless and those with mental health issues also - the two overlap often.  There is a lady we meet regularly on the streets who isn’t homeless – as I was told by one of our chaplains, who was not keen on us giving her too much help, as she had a home to go to.  Then another chaplain informed me that she is subject to domestic violence at home, which is why she spends a lot of time on the street.   There are other homeless who could go to stay in shelters provided, but they are on the streets because they refuse to obey the curfew time.  It is not a simple one size fits all issue, but if we had the power to heal what is hurting these people, would we?

 

We are challenged to see things through God’s eyes and not through the eyes of tradition or societal norms.  Challenged, not to see a crippled, old woman, but a treasure… a precious soul for whom Christ came, suffered and died.

 

Speaking of seeing things through God’s eyes, our first reading shows us a glimpse into the extent of God’s investment in our lives.  An element that we might not have considered. 

 

Take a look at this reading from Jeremiah and you will note that God forms us in the womb.  Jeremiah is told that he was put together by God in his mother’s womb.  This means that the collection of genes and hereditary possibilities were carefully designed by God.  You and I are also purposefully constructed in our mother’s womb.  I think we should just pause for a moment and consider the implication of this.  You and I were uniquely and purposefully designed by God himself.  Others are also uniquely and purposefully designed by God. 

We might look at our lives now and wonder where it all went wrong, feeling a long way from a perfect creation.  I’m sure the crippled woman felt that way also.  Make no mistake, God desires us to be whole and unhindered.  God’s original plan for humankind was not for sickness, pain, injustice and all other kind of evil.  In God’s heart, is the heart of a parent who only wants good for his children…. But all children have to make their own decisions and are subject to the consequences of those choices… and so evil entered our world and it is a sad reality of our lives.

 

You and I are that crippled woman.  We, as humans, were hindered by the consequence of sin, but Jesus came on a holy day and set us free.  Jesus had the power to heal the crippled woman and he did not hesitate.  He did not wait to run her through a program so that she understood some basic theology.  He did not check into her background to see if she was worthy – none of us measure up anyway.  Jesus immediately acted to set that woman free because he knew God’s desire.  God’s desire is that we are all healed and well.  He doesn’t delight in our harm, but his plan is for all that is good for us.

 

We might not be physically crippled, but instead there may be something else that causes us to “limp” – something that impedes our life… and maybe it has been impeding our life for 18 years or even longer.  For many years women were crippled.  They were not allowed to vote.  Similarly, in Australia, our indigenous brothers and sisters were also crippled as they also were not allowed to vote.  Our lives have been disabled by the imposition of others.  It is not always an obvious injustice that cripples.  There are still people in Christian churches that will declare that a woman can’t preach – in many denominations there are women who feel crippled because they have a God given call to speak God’s message, but can’t.  In the Bible there is a story about how God opened the mouth of a donkey to speak his message, but for some reason some people believe that we can’t have a woman tell us about God.

Another thing that cripples us is our internal struggles.  Perhaps it is a guilty conscience…  something done or not done… unresolved relationships and relationship failures.  Our relationships are crippled by perceptions of rejection caused by whispers, true or untrue. 

Good news is in our Hebrew reading that explains that Jesus is the mediator of a new covenant.  In this new covenant the righteous are “Made Perfect”.  It may seem like a mysterious statement, but it is part of the imagery of Jesus as lamb of God whose sacrifice takes away our sin... our imperfections.  Earlier in the letter to the Hebrew it is explained that we can draw near to God having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience.  When we truly understand what God has done for us, we realize that every transgression is dealt with… we are made whole and healed.

You and I are that crippled woman in the Gospel story.  Regardless of social propriety or religious traditions, God wants to heal us and set us free to walk up-right and whole, so that we can also go, praising God.

Our first reading, from Jeremiah is known as the call of Jeremiah.  In some sense there is a hint of the ministry of Christ in this prophetic calling, and this shouldn’t surprise us, as all of us are called into the ministry of Christ.  Our calling is to be working alongside with Christ who set captives free.

The Good News message, that Jesus set us free, is the base of everything and our reason for responding to the challenge and answering the call.

We like Jeremiah are called.  God says to each of us; "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you…”  Jeremiah’s initial response is;  "Ah, Lord GOD! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy."

How often do we feel inadequate to answer the call of God?

My guess is that if you don’t feel some sense inadequacy, you might not be truly human.  However, scripture gives us consolation.  God knew us and formed us in the womb.  The implication of this is that we were designed with love and purpose. 

We have been purposefully designed to accomplish all that God calls us to do and be.  You are the exact right person in the exact right place, but you might be crippled by relying on your own strength.  On our own and left to rely on our own talents we will fall.  But rejoicing in who we are created to be with the miraculous touch of Christ we can and will accomplish that to which He is calling us.  A great Christian leader used to say, “If you have Christ, you have all you ever need right now, and you need never have more.”

In the body of Christ, not all are the same… and our particular call may be different, but we can rest assured that all of us are called by God.  How do you know that God is calling you?     Answer; You are breathing.

Do not be afraid.... Reflection for Pentecost 9C August 7th 2022

         PROPER 14 (19)  Ninth Sunday after Pentecost Year C  Aug 7, 2022

• Isaiah 1:1, 10-20 and Psalm 50:1-8, 22-23  •  Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16  •  Luke 12:32-40

“Do not be afraid”!  Whenever I see these words in scripture, I wonder what was going on.  At the start of our Gospel reading we are assured that God’s pleasure is to give us the Kingdom.  God’s heart is to see us happy and in relationship with him.  God’s heart’s desire is to give us every good thing.  It is important that we know this fact because there are going to be hard times and times when we will, naturally, be afraid.  We need to understand that God truly loves us and never wants to see us harmed or hurt, but wants only good for us.

 

Our Gospel goes on to talk about being faithful to God and ready to serve him in all circumstances.  Ultimately, the reading finishes with an encouragement for being ever ready for the coming of Christ.

 

The early Christians thought that Jesus would be back for them really soon.  From what I understand about those times, it is no wonder.  The times were pretty horrific with Christians being persecuted, used for sport and being thrown to the lions.   Very real reasons to be afraid!  These early Christians didn’t compromise, because they knew that the way of God… the gift of God…  The love of God… was worth more than any torture or horror.  How would we go with this?  Is our faith strong enough? 

 

We now live in a time where, if someone were to say, “Jesus is coming soon”… we’d probably smile a little, thinking, “Yep.. I’ve heard that before.”.  There have been so many who tried to predict a time, an era… and so far, all have been wrong.  Or have they? 

 

We need to remember that prophecy is fulfilled in many ways and so Jesus’ coming to us happens in many ways.  Yes, there will be a time when the prophecy will be completed and Jesus will come again.  But in the meantime, each of us will have a time when Jesus comes for us personally.

 

We have a whole lot in common with those people of the Old Testament.  They were waiting for the coming of the Messiah.  We are also waiting, but for the second coming of Christ.  I have no doubt that many of them gave up hope and became somewhat cynical about the promises of God, possibly going their own way and, as we know some in Jesus’ time did, re-interpreted the laws of God to suit themselves and fit with their own version of reality.

 

And so, we have the warning in our Gospel, “be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks.”  These servants have faith that the master will return, and they show faithfulness in their attitude of constant servitude to their master.

 

The actions of those who wait faithfully, show the extent of their faith.  Our actions, our words, our behaviour… all show what we believe.  Our actions speak a message louder than words.  Do our actions tell a message of faith?

 

The letter to the Hebrews tells us all about what faith is and how it all works.  Our reading starts with an explanation of how faith is the assurance of things hoped for and conviction of things not seen.   In other translations; Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we can not see.

 

Faith and belief are synonyms, yet from this explanation I’d argue that faith is something stronger than belief -  I’d argue that it is possible that Faith could be a spiritual knowledge.  My understanding is that, because God now lives in us by his Holy Spirit, there are some things that we can feel certain about… things that we are so very, very sure about, even though we have no physical proof.  Another beautiful thing about this, is that God reveals different aspects of himself to each of us, and we need to listen to each other to learn more about what God wants to say to all of us.

 

We also learn from those who’ve gone before us and as the letter to the Hebrews tells us, we learn from those like Abraham.

We know that Abraham was declared righteous by faith.  He trusted and believed God… he had a relationship of trust and belief and faith in God and because of that, God declared him righteous.  It was the grace of God bestowed on Abraham due to the relationship that was between God and Abraham.

 

We learn that Abraham left his home and went to another place because God called him.  Abraham, never saw that land become his, in his lifetime, but he believed God would do it for his offspring.  But wait there is more.  Abraham and his wife had no children at this time.   It appeared that Sarah was barren at the time they were called to that land, and for many years in that land.  Regardless of the physical reality, Abraham and Sarah acted on the spiritual promise.

 

Remember the first part of today’s Gospel; God’s good pleasure is to give us the Kingdom.  Abraham must have known this by heart… by faith!  Because he continued to be faithful and follow God’s calling.  If there is one scripture to write out and place somewhere in your home to remember, as homework for this week, it is Luke 12:32  "Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”

 

Those words may have been the words of Jesus, but I get the sense that Abraham knew them by heart.  Throughout the years those promises made to Abraham were fulfilled in the lives of his offspring, but we know that these people were not always faithful to God.  Even though they knew the story of Abraham, the Israelites were more inclined to trust in giving sacrifices rather than trusting in having a relationship with God.  More inclined to trust in rites, rituals and traditions – trusting in their own works. 

 

That is the difference…. When the emphasis changes from what God promises to what we do, we get it wrong.

 

God gave the laws to help the people understand him.  There were sacrifices for the forgiveness of sin, so that the people would know what things they were doing were wrong and needed forgiveness…. But also, so that they could know God’s forgiveness.  Those outward things served a purpose, but the people grew to trust in their actions as the means of forgiveness rather than trusting in God.

Logically speaking, if they were not able to make the recommended sacrifice due to ill health or poverty, would that mean God didn’t forgive?  No.  That isn’t the way that God works.  The same argument has been made about Baptism, as there are some who say it must be full immersion and others who say that a sprinkle is fine.  The argument puts faith in the outward, physical elements instead of understanding that the new life in the kingdom of God is what God does for us.  Our rituals and traditions are an outward sign of an inner, spiritual reality. 

 

We ritualistically take communion.  We do this in remembrance, but there is a deeper spiritual reality.  It is an acceptance of the sacrifice of Jesus.  We accept the sacrifice of his broken body and shed blood.  Why?  Because through that sacrifice we are brought back into an unhindered, unconditional loving relationship with God.  Through that sacrifice every sin, past, present and future is forgiven.    This is good news and I want to partake in this spiritual reality.    So I want to partake in Communion.

 

The prophecy for this is in our first reading today.  It says, “Come now, let us argue it out, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be like snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. “  A bit of play on words, as the people were saved by the blood of the lamb.  The sacrifice was a prophetic sign of what Jesus was to do… he became the lamb of God and we are all forgiven and brought back into a relationship with God by the body and blood of Jesus Christ. 

 

It helps us to have a signs and symbols in our faith.  Abraham showed the reality of his faith by his action, when he was called to up and leave his home, he did so.  We have tangible rituals, such as communion to help us respond to the call of God, but if our lives don’t show the truth of our relationship with God, people will hear our doubt loud and clear, instead of our faith.  Our lives need to be the message of the Gospel.

 

The fundamental element of our message is that this is Good News.  Good News is what the word “Gospel” means.  It is good news that the God of the universe desires to give us the kingdom.  It is good news that Jesus came, died and rose again to bring us to new birth into the kingdom of God.

 

At Street Chaplaincy we have come to have a saying, “We preach the word of God always…. And if we have to, we use words”….  We don’t actually preach on the streets with words.  We don’t have to.  Our actions, speak much louder. 

 

I personally believe, from what I’ve read, that things will be much harder for Christians before Jesus returns.  Scripture also says that for the sake of the elect that time will be cut short, so we really need to be ever diligent in our relationship with God.  And I do most certainly encourage you to somewhere write our homework verse from Luke, because when times are tough, we all need the assurance that God does unconditionally accept and love us, and desires to give us the kingdom.  In fact, Ephesians tells us that our being sealed with the Holy Spirit is the pledge of our inheritance.

 

With the faith to understand that God has already secured His kingdom for us, we can be like Abraham, pressing on with sure faith in the promise of God, even though we live hard times.  I leave you with a challenge in the words of a song by Australian composer, Brian Boniwell (Same composer who wrote The Lord is my Shepherd and I want to follow).   This song poses the challenge to us, as if God is singing the song…  It starts; Will you give me your life forever? Will you carry my cross every day?  Will you walk in the light of my presence?  Will you follow the truth of my ways?

 

In summary… Can we answer His call?

Dividing family inheritance

 

PROPER 13 (18) Pentecost 8C Year C  July 31, 2022

• Hosea 11:1-11 and Psalm 107:1-9, 43  • Colossians 3:1-11  •  Luke 12:13-21

 

Is there anything uglier than a family fighting over an inheritance?  Relationships are broken, and the only winner is the solicitor, whose power to make judgements, will still be deemed unsatisfactory to all involved.  It is a sure sign we’ve fallen a long way from God’s image.   In our Gospel reading a man asks Jesus to intervene in what seems to be an unfair divide in a family inheritance.   reminiscent of the story of where Martha asks Jesus to tell her sister to help, Jesus does not do what he requests. 

 

Last week we had the Gospel on how to pray.  Prayer often takes the form of asking God for something, but our experience tells us that many times our prayers are not answered.  Perhaps it is, that we are making requests similar to Martha and this man, where there is a problem with our request.

 

Why is it that these things, which seem like straightforward and just requests, are given a less than expected response?  Please note that God does care about every little thing that concerns us, so Jesus’ refusal to act as arbitrator is something to ponder and realize that there is more going on here.  Each of us has free will and God does always respect our free will and the free will of others, which means that sometimes our prayers can’t be answered because it relies on the free will of others.

 

In our Gospel, Jesus tells the parable of a rich man who, rather than act generously with his excess grain, builds bigger barns.  I wonder if the brother of the man who made the request, was in the crowd to which Jesus was speaking.  What do you think would be more effective, telling someone what they must do, or telling a story that shows the foolishness of their actions?  If the man was in the crowd, Jesus was in fact answering the man’s request more effectively and intervening in the matter of the inheritance, by showing the foolishness of hoarding wealth – But he was respecting free will.

 

However, there is a deeper issue that I think this week’s readings bring into focus, and it is important that we don’t miss it.  For God to answer prayer, it is obvious that we need to be willing to bend our will to God’s Kingship and authority.  For us to be the answer to each other’s prayers we need to understand the heart of God and trust in His supremacy.

 

I believe the key verse in our readings today is that one about greed in the letter to the Colossians.  It reads; “Put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed (which is idolatry).”

 

The part of this that caught my attention, is the part which is repeated in the Gospel about being on our guard against all kinds of greed; “for one's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions”.  I am also keen to explore the part in our Colossians reading that appears in brackets as an explanation, where it says, “which is idolatry”.  How is greed idolatry?

 

Firstly, what is idolatry?  In exploring this, I went to commentaries on the commandments.  I especially like to check out Hebrew commentaries on topics, as the Bible is primarily a Hebrew book (at least the Old Testament is), written for Hebrews.  So, I found a site that had this comment; “The first commandment reminds us that everything in the Torah flows from the love we have for God, which in turn is a response to the love he has for us. This love was demonstrated by God’s deliverance of Israel “out of the house of slavery” in Egypt (Exod. 20:2). Nothing else in life should concern us more than our desire to love and be loved by God. If we do have some other concern stronger to us than our love for God, it is not so much that we are breaking God’s rules, but that we are not really in relationship with God.” https://www.theologyofwork.org/old-testament/exodus-and-work/israel-at-mount-sinai-exodus-191-4038/instructions-about-work-exodus-201-17-and-211-239/the-ten-commandments-exodus-201-17/you-shall-have-no-other-gods-before-me-exodus-203

 

What I notice here, is that the commandment is all about love and our relationship with God.  It makes a lot of sense then, when we reflect on the first reading from Hosea where God speaks so passionately of His love for his people.  In Hosea 11:4 and 5 we see both the love of God and God’s respect for free will where it says, “ I led them with cords of human kindness, with bands of love. I was to them like those who lift infants to their cheeks. I bent down to them and fed them.  They shall return to the land of Egypt, and Assyria shall be their king, because they have refused to return to me.” 

 

Things went badly for the Israelites because they let things break their relationship with God, by trusting in other sources.  Those other sources became their Gods.  Do we do the same?  Of course, we do! It is only human, but it breaks God’s heart because he desires to be our only God – our benevolent father and ultimate authority, but an authority that is borne out of our trust in God’s love and a rightful acknowledgement of God’s superiority. 

 

Our relationship with God was first broken back in the garden of Eden when the choice was made to trust in something other than God.  In fact, there is more to the story of the Garden of Eden, which is pertinent to our reflection for today.  In my research I discovered that the meaning of tree of the knowledge of good and evil is actually about having the authority to pronounce judgment.

 

Adam and Eve were already given everything.  God had put everything under Adam’s stewardship.  The temptation of the serpent was about replacing God by becoming like God, therefore having the authority to pronounce judgement.  You might recall the words of the serpent, “You will not certainly die,” …. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.””  When questioned, Adam pronounced Judgement … It was the woman’s fault…. And God’s.

 

There is a great old country song; each verse has questions like, why are children starving?  Why is there war?   Why is there heart ache?…etc.. The chorus says - “When the man said, “this way to heaven”, fools knew a better way to go and when the man said, “this way to heaven”, this mad, crazy world said “No”!  We may have eaten from that tree, but we sure don’t have the wisdom to get it right.

In today’s world, we stray from God’s word by judging that our ways are better than his and that we know better than him.  In the church we are struggling to keep up with our modern society laws which seem in contradiction to the word of God and we re-look at the scriptures and try to re-jig them to see how we can get them to fit.  Does that seem crazy to you?  It is simply what has been happening since the beginning of time -a pattern of human behaviour.  We want the authority ourselves to pronounce judgement.  In doing this we proclaim ourselves to have the ultimate authority -God’s authority.  We’ve made an idol…. and the idol is ourselves.  Christopher Wright, in his book, [Mission of God] says; “.., all idolatry is human rejection of the Godness of God and the finality of God’s moral authority.” https://www.realbiblestudy.com/?p=3064

 

We can all tell horror stories about someone dying and the children fighting over the inheritance, but Jesus knew what he was doing in refusing to take sides.  When people are grieving, they misplace the grief by being angry at others and they may try to hold on to the person who died by desiring their possessions.  It is ugly, but there is a deeper problem and it is often simply heartache manifested as greed.  Sometimes it is simple greed also.

 

The greed that becomes idolatry is the desire to be more important than the next person, making ourselves God.  This is a greed for authority.  Not just any authority, but God’s authority to judge what is good and what is evil.  Have you experienced those who, because of their influential status, dictated beliefs and values?   These values are not allowed to be argued about, even though they may be clearly wrong.  They proclaim fiction as fact, and pronounce judgement on anyone who dares disagree with them.

 

Rather than pronounce judgement, it is vital to seek God’s heart in matters.  Colossians tells us how we should live.  We must get rid of things like malice, slander and abusive language, because we are clothed with Christ and our mind is being renewed as we grow more into the image of God.

 

The irony of all of this, is that we have everything.  We are created in the image of God and His desire is to give us everything.  Why would we step outside his authority and claim it for our own?  In the world God made, none are above another…. As it says; there is no Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all!  Christ in us is the hope of glory.  With the heart of God living in us which, instead of judging, shows us an example of laying down our lives for each other, is the hope of glory… and a much better way.   The only way!

 

To end with, there is a story that explains this better way – it isn’t in the Bible, but is believed to be Hebrew and is certainly well known.  My shortened version goes like this; https://www.uua.org/re/tapestry/children/toolbox/session13/two-brothers

In the land of Israel lived two brothers who worked the land together.  The crops were abundant, and each reflected on this at night.  One thought, “I have more than what I need, I am single and alone, but my brother has a family to provide for”.  So, he decided on a plan.  In the night he would sneak some of his share of the crops to his brother’s barn.

Mean while the other brother was also reflecting at night and thinking, “My brother is alone with no family to care for him when he is old and frail.  I will give him some of my crop so that he has wealth to assure him help in his old age.” 

Each brother was a little perplexed that, though they were giving, their store of the crop continued to grow.   For many nights the brothers each secretly stocked each other’s barns until one night they ran into each other…  in the moonlight they recognised each other and realized what was happening and laughed and hugged each other.

 

The legend goes on to say that this spot where they met, is where king Solomon built his temple.  King Solomon who, as King had authority to pronounce judgment and was known for his wisdom as a gift from God.  I like the idea, though it might only be myth, as the spirit of love, compassion and generosity, is the foundation for true judgement.   This is what we have in God.  We who should be judged, quite rightly by God, instead find love, compassion and generosity and a renewed relationship with our creator.   May we continue to grow in his image as we set our minds to be renewed by the knowledge of His love and all His ways.