Refiner's fire and washer's soap Advent 2C 8th December 2024

 2024  12  08  Second Sunday of Advent Year C

Malachi 3:1-4   Luke 1:68-79     Philippians 1:3-11    Luke 3:1-6

 

We live in a time of fulfilled promise and a time of promises yet to be fulfilled.  Jesus has come and has redeemed us, but he will come again.  As we reflect through this season, we read the message of John the Baptist who called all to be baptised for the forgiveness of sins.  We have already been baptised and forgiven and live in the light of Christ and God’s love, but we need to heed the message to be baptised again in our minds…. After all, repentance is a word translated from the Greek word Metanoia and means to change our minds.  For us, this means to submit to God and bring our minds into line with God’s word.

 

As we open our minds to the message of John the Baptist, and bring our minds into line with the word of God, we prepare ourselves to receive the next part of God’s promise…. We prepare ourselves for the second coming of Christ.

 

Practically speaking, why would we do this and of what benefit is it that we answer the call to be baptised in our minds, aligning our minds with the word of God?   I don’t know how you feel about things, but I sense there is a constant denial of the word of God in our society, and it even creeps into our churches.  It is the thought process that says we believe in God, but we don’t get too carried away.  We believe that God loves everyone and forgives all, but perhaps, we don’t believe that God requires any other action from us.  It is also the thought process whereby we believe that Christ will come again… but not in our lifetime.  The implication of living this way means that we will be a bit relaxed about the word of God and won’t necessarily take it all to heart…. Just the bits that suit us.   So, my question in this is; what if Christ does come again in our lifetime?  Would it change our attitude and our lifestyles if we knew that Christ was coming back on the 1^st of January 2025?

 

The word of God came to John the Baptist, but prior to this the word of God came to his father Zechariah, and also the word of God came to Malachi in our first reading.  Malachi lived about 500 years before Christ was born, yet the Word of the Lord came to prepare them and it spoke about the one who would prepare the way of the Lord, in other words, it spoke about John the Baptist.  But there is something important that we need to realize about this prophecy; partially it speaks about the first coming of Christ and partially it speaks about the second coming.  These words from Malachi are more in line with other scriptures describing the second coming; “3:2But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire and like washers' soap;” 

 

Today we light our second Advent candle of Peace.  As we do, we reflect on our world and that it is a long way from realizing the Peace heralded by the Angels at that first Christmas.  It has been suggested that the message of Peace at Christmas, is the reason we have so many Christmas movies about broken relationship being mended.  However, the refiner’s fire and washer’s soap doesn’t sound very peaceful.

 

I think a helpful analogy is that of washing a grubby toddler.  There is no peace in the washing, but when it is done, that washing does bring peace.  Zechariah prophesied that his son would be prophet of the most-high God and that he would give the people knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins.  In this prophecy is also the message about God’s love and about God’s light which guides us through the shadow of death to the way of peace. “… to shine upon those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace."

 

Here in this life, we often find ourselves walking in the shadow of death.  We are surrounded by a society that has ways that do not lead to life.  I don’t mean to say that everything about our society is bad… it isn’t.  And we know that our leaders strive to bring life to the community, but there certainly are decisions made that don’t lead to life – especially lately -  and there certainly are spiritual powers and principalities at work in our society that are opposing the way of God.  In our town we have an increasing number of empty shops, many overgrown with weeds and in disrepair.  We also can boast of having one of the highest rates of mental health problems in Australia, with the highest suicide rate, and we are known by some as, Mack town – Crack town.  Meaning that we have a high drug usage.  One of the government solutions to the drug problem is the possibility of legalizing some of the drug use, and relaxing the laws on those caught with illicit drugs.   (”A Bill has just been passed by Queensland parliament which, among other things, creates a ‘three strike’ system for minor drug offences in Queensland. The legislation relaxes the current laws that police must follow, allowing three chances before a person can be sent to court for most low-level drug offences — including possession of cannabis, ice, cocaine, heroin, fentanyl, ketamine and steroids.  The new legislation came into effect on 3 May 2024. “)  Depending on your circle of friends and places you go, you might be completely unaware that we are living in the shadow of death.  The word of God acknowledges the reality of our world.  We live in the shadow of death, but Christ came to guide our feet to the path of peace. 

 

Peace isn’t being nice and kind and glossing over problems.  The peace that came heralded by the Angels at the coming of Christ, is the peace that came through the sacrifice of Jesus, which restores us to our unimpaired relationship with God.  Peace comes at a price and we are told that for the second coming, that Jesus will come with the refiner’s fire and washer’s soap.

 

The ways to peace and life in our community (remember we pray His kingdom come…), comes through us being involved in our community.  We have some Christian people in our council at the moment and they need our prayers.  Four of them have fought to get pornography out of the library and one confided to me that she was surprised that it was a fight.  She thought it would be a given that all decent people would vote against having this in our library.  We live in the shadow of death!

 

We know the reality of our world…. The fighting…. That lack of peace, but we are reminded today that Christ is coming.  He was promised many years ago and although the prophesy was fulfilled in his first coming, there is more; He will come again.  The prophesy from Malachi was about 500 years before Christ.  Why was this prophesy given and of what use was it to the people of his time? 

 

We are called to heed the message of John the Baptist and turn our minds to be in line with the word of God, we are also meant to then take on the ministry of John the Baptist.  We are the ones who are to call people to be Baptised for the forgiveness of sins.  We are the voice in the wilderness crying, “Prepare the way of the Lord”.    Maybe not in those exact words, but in the ways that we bring life and light to our community, standing firm against issues that don’t bring life, we do prepare the way of the Lord.  We open the doors of people’s hearts so that they can receive the message of God… so that they, along with us can be cleaned and refined.  And then there is peace.  

 

Philippians tells us; “And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight to help you to determine what really matters, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless,…”  When we live like this, we live in peace.

 

The Christmas carol, What Child is This, has these words; “Good Christians fear for sinners here.  The silent word is pleading.”  God’s love seeks to reach every heart.  What the song is saying is that good Christians should fear that those who’ve not turned to Christ are living in trouble and will experience more trouble if not for the intervention of God, and so we are called to prepare the way.  To do this we need the word of God to come to us, as it did to all those we read about today – and it comes to us easily in this century;  We open our Bibles and read.

 

A toddler will fight the bath, not understanding that it is an action done in love.  A parent washes the toddler because they love and care for them.  God loves and cares for us.  This refiners fire and washer’s soap sounds harsh, but it is for the ultimate good… it is meant to show the complete clean that only God can bring.  There is nothing to fear for us who’ve turned to God, because Jesus makes us clean.  John `15:3 says; “ You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.”  Once again, we notice that the word of God is the key.  We are cleaned by the word of God… by Jesus… by repenting in our mind and completely accepting the word of God – not doubting … it is the way of true PEACE – being at peace with God and bringing life and peace to our world.  Let us, this day, speak to God in prayer, with willingness to fully believe in His word.  

Christ the King and we, His witnesses Year B 24th November 2024

 2024  11  24      Reign of Christ - Proper 29 (34)

2 Samuel 23:1-7 and Psalm 132:1-12, (13-18)    Revelation 1:4b-8    John 18:33-37

How to be his witnesses:

We’ve called this season the Sunday’s after Pentecost, and Pentecost is the celebration of the coming of the Holy Spirit, which turned very ordinary people in the extraordinary witnesses of Christ.  Therefore, we have been in a season of learning to be the witnesses of Christ.  Today we reach the final week of the church year and we proclaim and celebrate that Christ is King.  In all we learn about God and the ministry of Christ, we are led to this conclusion; Christ is king.  However, this is a question that each of us must answer for our own lives, not just once, but daily.  Our Christian journey starts and ends with this question; Will you accept Jesus Christ as the King and Lord of your life?  Today we are reminded to make the declaration that Christ is king, as we ponder the question through the story of Jesus’ interaction with Pontius Pilate.  “Are you the King of the Jews?” He asks Jesus, and so we are caused to ponder the identity and kingship of Jesus also.

 

It was nearly 2000 years ago that this story took place, in 33AD.  I personally find it frustrating, that as far as education is concerned, Jesus is put in the category of religion lessons only.  Therefore, people being poorly educated, reject Jesus as a fictitious character who is believed in by Christians.  However, Jesus is a person of our history.  He is a fact, and one day every single person will need to deal with that fact.  Through our readings, we are also caused to ponder the identity of Jesus, and reflect on the way we live as witness to his Kingship.

 

Jesus was Jewish.  He was born into the clan of Judah, a descendant of King David.  In reply to the question from Pilate, Jesus does not deny that he is a King, but explains that his kingdom does not belong to this world.  This is where we need to make some decisions; Do we believe Jesus or not?  It isn’t a matter of believing the reality of Jesus – He was really there in front of Pilate, but was he telling the truth?  Was he really a king of another world?  Surely these were the question on the mind of Pilate.  What would you have been thinking in his situation?

 

Jesus tells us that he came into this world to testify to the truth.  This is key!  We know, from other scripture that Pilate’s wife had dreamt about Jesus and we know that Pilate washed his hands of the guilt… This implies that Pilate was conflicted, and unsure.  Certainly, he believed Jesus to be innocent of the charges brought before him, yet he handed him over to the Jews to be crucified.  Pilate, like all of us, was faced with having to make a decision about the identity of Jesus.

 

C.S. Lewis, who wrote the chronicles of Narnia, has explained that when it comes to the identity of Jesus, there are only three possibilities.  Jesus claimed that he was a King, but that his kingdom was of another world.  Through the scriptures we know that Jesus declared that he existed before the world began, and that he and the father are one.  Therefore, there are three logical possibilities; Jesus was either lying about all this and deliberately misleading people, or he was a lunatic and he himself was believing in a delusion, or he was telling the truth.   So, we look at the life of Jesus and see the good and compassionate works and the miracles and we can easily conclude that Jesus was not deliberately lying.  Next, we need to ask, was he a lunatic?  If so, this would have been evidenced and reported by others.  In fact, there were times that his family thought he was losing the plot, but this only serves to prove that if he was truly a lunatic, something would have been done about it before he got to the point of crucifixion.  His followers would later on be martyred, in their own testimony to the truth of which Jesus came to testify.  The whole world became so impacted and convinced that Jesus was/ IS the truth, that we now mark our years since the birth of Jesus, (the dating being according to the best of knowledge at that time) - So… he was not a lunatic.

 

Jesus tells us that he came to testify to the truth, and everyone who belongs to the truth listens to his voice.  In this life, 2024 years after his birth, who is listening to the voice of Jesus?  We, in the Church, need to deal with any ambiguity.  Jesus IS the truth…. No ifs, buts or maybes.

 

We are all witnesses to the immense confusion and chaos in the world over many things.  Where is the truth?  Our confusion, in the world, comes because the world is generally not listening to the voice of Jesus and the voice of truth.  Our country leaders and world leaders are not listening to the voice of Jesus.   In fact, our mayor reported to us, at the Mackay Churches Together Christmas dinner, that there are people wanting to stop prayer before council.  They object, saying that religion has no place and they ignorantly claim that we are not a Christian country.  This is a denial again, of our history.  It is fact that Australian laws and values are based on Christianity.   This was a fact taught to us in university in the studies of society guidelines.  We also still have a holiday for Good Friday, Easter and Christmas.   We may be becoming less Christian than we were…. But then who would be to blame for that?   Is it us?   There has always been this tension between church and state, but the reality is, we need the voice of Jesus, which comes to our society through the church, for goodness to reign in our world.  In what ways do we speak the voice of Jesus to our society?

 

King David tells us; "One who rules over people justly, ruling in the fear of God, is like the light of morning, like the sun rising on a cloudless morning, gleaming from the rain on the grassy land."  Remember, the fear of God is that sense of the greatness of God and respect, knowing that God’s ways are beyond our understanding.  We have a healthy fear for the fact that we will all be answerable to God for our actions.  A leader that has this understanding will certainly be one who will bring life to the nation.

 

We are the church and we are the body of Christ.  We have a call to be influential in our nation also.  Especially, when the leaders of our country are not being led by the spirit of God.  It might be cliché, but we should ask ourselves, “what would Jesus do?”, and then we need to remember that Jesus said to his followers, “these things and greater, you will do”…. Meaning that we are now his body on earth and so we now need to ask Jesus what he would have us do.  We are the body of Christ, therefore the body needs to go where the head directs it.  There are many issues of contention that need the wisdom of God.  Where is that goodness and wisdom going to come from, if not from us, the church?

 

The church has a responsibility.  We have a responsibility.  We know this from Jesus’ stories about sheep and the goats, and so many other stories about how we need to show our faith by our actions.  Of course, we always respect that other people don’t share our faith, but need to remember that our faith is not just a healthy set of beliefs that will bring us goodness in life.  Our faith is the truth.  It may seem like a presumptuous thing to say, but Jesus said it!  And we have just worked out logically and rationally that Jesus was neither liar, nor lunatic. 

 

Jesus came to testify to the truth.  In our reading from Revelations, we are told that Christ is the faithful witness.  We are also told that he is the ruler of the kings of the earth.  The rulers of the earth might not acknowledge this at this time, but one day Jesus will come again, and we are told that every eye will see him. 

 

The message that we are called to proclaim, is called the Gospel – meaning Good News.  The way of God, is the way of goodness.  I think that sometimes we forget this fundamental fact.  And I think that we forget this because we don’t fully grasp that God truly loves us.  Our reading from Revelation confirms the love of Christ when talks about Jesus as the one who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood.  Last week we learnt that by the one sacrifice, Christ has made perfect those who are sanctified.  Jesus died for love of us, and if you were the only person on earth, he would have done that just for you. 

 

Each of us needs to personally come to a point where we acknowledge the Kingship of Jesus in our own lives, and we need to be regularly reminded that Christ is King - of our lives.., but also, he is over and above all creation and all powers.  This is Jesus who loves us.  He is the truth.  May the Holy Spirit teach us to know the power and the love of this King.  Understanding these things, we will walk this land in the confidence that we are his, and quite naturally, we will be his witnesses who bring his light, love and goodness to our nation and world.

Don't be led astray :-) Proper 28, Pentecost 26 Year B 17th November 2024

2024  11  17  Proper 28 Pentecost 26

 

1 Samuel 1.4-20 - Song of Hannah -  Hebrews 10.11-14, 19-25 - Mark 13.1-11

 

So many times, through history, people have thought, “This is it – The beginning of the end”.  Are they wrong?  We often laugh at them because we are still here.  But the truth of the matter is that when these things happen and there is great unrest, it is the beginning of the birth pangs.  Those times of unrest eventually give birth to change and new life, and the cycle begins again.  Perhaps like the waves of labour pains.

 

In our first reading, Hannah was experiencing great unrest.  For a woman in those times, to give birth to a son was everything.  This was how a woman would be secure in her older years.  She would be looked after by her son.  Hannah was loved, but she was barren.  This meant that her rival, Elkanah’s other wife, lorded it over Hannah and caused her grief.  All this grief brought Hannah to her knees, quite literally and she cried out to God. The answer to that prayer would bring about change, not just for Hannah, but for the whole nation of Israel.

 

Jesus, talking about the Temple, was very specific in alerting his companions to the fact that it would be destroyed.  The Temple was destroyed in 70 A.D. by the Romans.  This would have been about 40 years after this conversation with Jesus took place.  The words of Jesus are reliable and to be trusted, and when the disciples questioned him further, his first words are a warning, “beware…., Many will come in my name and say, 'I am he!' and they will lead many astray.”

 

When Jesus began this conversation, it was because of the praise of the Temple and the value that people had in the structure.  It was important that Jesus let them know NOT to trust in the structure, the buildings etc.. including the traditions.  He knew that change was coming, but also, he knew that people were trusting in the form of religion and not the object… ie. God.  We need to beware, also, of putting trust in structures and form.  In fact, we need to beware of putting trust in anything that is not God himself.

 

We are warned that many will come in the name of Jesus, and will lead many astray.  Will we be one of the many led astray?  And how can we safe guard our faith in God?

 

People who are trained to spot counterfeit money, are highly trained in all the qualities of the real money.  They know the real money so very well that any tiny little anomaly is quickly noticed and the counterfeit is identified.

 

We can’t ever know all those who claim to be Jesus but aren’t, so as to safe guard ourselves against being led astray, but what we need to do, is to become so totally familiar with Jesus, that we can quickly notice if anything is not, “Jesus”. 

 

Now to do this, getting to know Jesus, we don’t do it by listening to our friend’s idea of who Jesus is.  We don’t do it by listening to social media’s idea of who Jesus is.  We don’t even do it by listening to Australia’s greatest theologian.  Let me explain and qualify all of these; Because often our friends do help us to know Jesus, and sometimes social media does help us to know Jesus, and even Australia, or America’s, or the world’s greatest theologian, can help us to understand and know who Jesus is, but nothing is better than, us spending time in prayer and scripture reading.  Spending time with God himself, relying on the Holy Spirit, is the best way to ensure we will not be led astray.

 

A number of years ago, my friends from Brisbane, who were also doing theological training invited me to attended a weekend intensive lecture with them.  The lecturer was a priest from Sydney (I think), who was supposedly a leader in his theological field.  I won’t repeat the things that he was saying, but he had my friends convinced.  I was pretty horrified, because it sounded a lot like heresy to me.  He was a very learned man and he knew the Bible, and spoke about things very convincingly.  I took notes and discussed with my local priest, and we both were totally convinced that the man was teaching heresy.  But my friends just thought he was revolutionary.  

 

Counterfeits aim to be indistinguishable from the real thing.  After a fair bit of talking, debating and pointing back to scripture, my friends decided, maybe I was right but, them believing me, doesn’t matter.  Them believing God does!  None of us ever gets everything correct about God all the time.  God is beyond our understanding, yet He has made himself known to us and wants to be known, which is why he sends us His Holy Spirit.  We also do need to continue meeting together because we help each other know the truth.

 

You will find counterfeit Jesus’ in other religions, in society, in cults, and new age ideologies and unfortunately, you will also and more often, find the counterfeit Jesus in the Christian church.

 

A counterfeit Christ will always appear to be Christ.  Like counterfeit money, it is hard to discern unless you really know the real thing.  A counterfeit Christ will always promote a counterfeit Gospel.  Our Gospel is such Good News, that it is hard to comprehend – and therefore, somewhat easy for a false Christ to infiltrate and twist.  In our reading from the Hebrews, we have the message of Good News spelt out clearly; “For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.”

Back in the medieval times, this was something that became twisted by many false Christs.  Jesus’ dying on the cross was a single sacrifice that makes us perfect in the eyes of God.  Those who are sanctified are those who are “set apart”, as the children of God - those who have been born again through accepting the word of God. In other words, all of us here, and all who choose to belong to Christ.  That single sacrifice of Jesus perfected us for ALL time!

 

The Good News is that this means that we have unconditional access to God through Jesus.  False Christs in the medieval times would say, you first need to pay some money, or you need to work at something, or you need to pray through a Saint, or you needed to attend nine services in a row, say five hail Mary’s… etc…   The medieval church denied the cross of its power but used its message to give credibility to the belief that it formed in its own twisted image.

 

Traces of these medieval church beliefs still linger.  There are also superstitions where people might carry – say a crystal for protection and healing.  When we do these things, we show that we don’t understand the Gospel.  This is what it means to fall from Grace… When we trust in something other than the completed one sacrifice of Jesus.  Do we not realize that we have access to an omnipotent God who loves us?  God sees us as perfect because of the one, once and for all sacrifice of Jesus.  He cares about our cares.  We have this all in black and white in our Bibles.

 

When Jesus spoke to his companions about the destruction of the Temple, he did so to encourage them to have faith in God rather than the building.  Hebrews also tells us, "This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds," and he adds, "I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more." 

 

This is about the work of the Holy Spirit and the finished work of Jesus.  This is the Gospel – the Good News.  There is no longer a Temple to trust in, or a priest to mediate, we are told that we enter the inner sanctuary, God’s presence, by the blood of Jesus.  Jesus himself is the only mediator and high priest.  

 

This change, from a physical Temple, to complete faith in God, was part of the new birth that Jesus ministry accomplished.  It relies on the work of the Holy Spirit in believers.  It is the Holy Spirit that teaches us and ensures that we are not led astray, and we as the body of Christ, all have different gifts of the spirit, and we need to be working together.  The world is currently incredibly restless and full of ideology foreign to the Goodness of God.  But we won’t be led astray, if we continue meeting together and considering how we can encourage each other in love and good deeds.

 

Our world is in crisis.  It is divided and in chaos.  In the midst of this, we need to proclaim the Good News by offering that world love and good deeds because actions speak louder than words. God has said through the letter from James, that “Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.”

 

Our challenge for this week is to encourage another person in love and good deeds, and perhaps to consider what love and good deeds we can take part in also.

Just be brave and Jump! Proper27 Pentecost 25 Year B 10th November 2024

2024  11  10  Proper 27, Pentecost 25 B

 

The readings today bring our attention to three widows – Naomi and her daughter in law, Ruth, and in our Gospel reading Jesus points out the widow who puts money into the treasury.  Jesus points out that this widow has put in more than all the others because others put in money from their abundance… their extra “funny money” if you like.  Where as the widow has no abundance… no extra funds and she puts in all she has to live on.

 

To fill you in on the operations of the temple, according to the Mishnah, (the Jewish writings about the law,) the temple treasury contained what was called the 13 trumpets.  These trumpets were the collection vessels for the people’s offerings.  There were 11 out of those 13 that were for supposedly “voluntary” offerings of money and two that were for the temple tax. Of those 11, nine were for receiving what was legally due from worshippers and 4 were strictly voluntary.

 

This was a society with different ways of operating from how we are today.  The centre of modern life is certainly not church for most, but probably our media… social or television, whereas the life of people in Jesus’ time, completely centred around the temple.  What they believed about God was the most important aspect of life, as they lived acutely aware of the reality of death and therefore, spiritual belief was of utmost importance.  Modern humanity, in contrast, seems to live in denial of death and mortality, and in denial of anything concretely spiritual.

 

Church life ruled every other part of their life also.  If one was sick, they needed to present themselves to the priests before they could be declared clean and once again take part in life.  And there was always an offering that needed to be given as part of that “being declared clean”.  One could not simply go freely to church, but it was a culture where church was everything.

 

The widow putting in all she had to live on, in our culture, would seem strange and foolish, but to live in that time meant to go to the temple and to go to the temple was to live!  And to go to the temple meant that something needed to be placed in those trumpets. Also, it was not really a good news story, because it operated on a system of sacrifice in order to gain God’s acceptance. 

 

 

The Good News is explained in our letter to the Hebrews, “he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to remove sin by the sacrifice of himself.”

The widow put in all she had to live on, but Jesus gave, not just all he had to live on, but his whole life… and his spiritual life too.  Jesus was born Spiritually alive as he is the son of God, born by the Holy Spirit.  Jesus did not need to experience separation from God the father, because he was without sin, yet he cried out on the cross, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me”…. Why?  Because he was at that time baptized into the sins of the world and he took the punishment for sin upon himself.   – That is, by the way, the one baptism for the forgiveness for sins that we declare belief in, as we recite the creed.

 

Some of these things are hard to understand physically… because we are talking about a spiritual realm and how things work in the spirit.  Sin, which began, back at the beginning of time, with doubting God, brought death.  And then the death of Jesus, who was without sin, brings life to those who choose to accept and follow him.  Notice too that there is no other way, and no second chance as we are told; “just as it is appointed for mortals to die once and after that the judgment,…”  Just in case you didn’t catch it, let me clarify; this means there is no re-incarnation and no past life.  Mortals die once… NO second chance to get it right…. But the Good News, is that we don’t need to… we only need to reach out to God through the sacrifice of Jesus.  It is done!  No other sacrifice is needed.  We are also told that Jesus will come again.  We are told that he has dealt with sin in his first coming.  In his second coming it will be to save those who are waiting for him.

 

God doesn’t expect us to not think about the future financially or otherwise.  Quite the opposite, in fact, as we read that  Naomi said to Ruth, “I need to seek some security for you, so that it may be well with you”.  However, we need to understand and have a proper vision of the future.  How can a widow give away all she has to live on?  Only because she has understood the future and is totally believing in God and trusting in his provision.  Only if she has an understanding of life and life eternal and completely trusts in God.  We are challenged today, to have this understanding and also completely trust in God.

 

There is a children’s story that I think, illustrates this; Be Brave Little Penguin, by Giles Andreae.  A little penguin is afraid of water, and imagines all the scenarios of monsters and things in the water to harm and eat him.  In the end he discovers that sometimes you have to just be brave and jump.   And, OH the Joys that you discover when you do!

 

All of our widows were people who trusted in God, but this doesn’t mean their life was without grief.  Our younger Old Testament widow is Ruth.  She was not even an Israelite, but a Moabite woman, who married a man from the line of Judah.  In fact, her husband’s family were from Bethlehem.  The husband and his family had been living in the country of Moab due to a famine in Bethlehem.  Unfortunately, the father-in-law had died and then the brother-in-law and Ruth’s husband also died.  Three widows were living together.  Naomi, the mother-in-law, told the two younger women to return to their father’s house, as both were young and could remarry.  You see, the law was that, if there was a brother alive, then that brother would take the woman as his wife, to care for her and also have children, but the children would be reckoned as the dead brother’s offspring, so that the family line could be preserved.

 

There were no other brothers.  One of the younger ladies returned to her father’s house, but Ruth had declared that she would stay with Naomi, her Mother-in-law, and serve the God of the Israelites.  The famous line from Ruth is; Your people will be my people and your God will be my God.

 

Ruth cared for Naomi and the two returned to the land of Judah where Ruth went to work gleaning grain in the field of a man named Boaz.  This was a law of provision for the poor in Jewish law.  The owner was not to harvest to the very edges and was not to go over the field a second time to pick up what was missed the first time, but instead the poor and the widows could do this for providing a living for themselves.

 

My guess is that this could have been dangerous work for a young beautiful woman.  But Boaz was a good man and instructed his men not to touch Ruth, and he also instructed them to allow extra wheat to fall to the ground for her to collect.

 

After a while Naomi decided on a plan to secure Ruth’s future – looking after her superannuation, you could say.  Boaz was what they called a Kinsman Redeemer.  This meant, in the absence of a brother to take on the widow, a kinsman redeemer could take her, with the understanding that her child and property would be considered belonging to her dead husband.

 

Not every Kinsman Redeemer would want to do this, but we see that Boaz did.  There is a little more to the story.  In order to evoke this response from Boaz, Ruth went and lay down next to Boaz at night.  This was also a dangerous act and it meant being completely vulnerable and at the mercy of Boaz.  He could have taken advantage of her and ruined her reputation as an honourable woman, but she asked him to “cover” her. 

 

Ruth is another woman who gave all she had to live on.  She had to trust in Naomi, her mother-in-law, and trust in God and trust in Boaz.  It is a frightening thing sometimes to trust in others…. And to trust in God.  Trusting is hard when trust has been betrayed.  But when we step out in faith and trust God, amazing things happen.  How amazing?  Check out what happened to Ruth!

 

Ruth is significant in our story of faith because she is the start of an important lineage of faith.  She maintained the lineage of her first husband, a man whose family home was in Bethlehem – THIS IS IMPORTANT -  and gave birth to Obed, who was the father of Jesse, who was the father of David.  David became the King of Israel, and described as a man after God’s own heart.  David is the ancestor of Christ.  This is why Mary and Joseph had to travel to Bethlehem and why Jesus was born there.

 

Today’s message is about those who are at risk of harm, but who have such an understanding of our future in God, and such a sure trust in God, that they bravely step out in faith.  This might be us.  We make this time to worship God our priority.  We are trusting in God’s provision for our own future and for the future of the church.  We might be reading at church or welcoming or doing other jobs, because we know the importance of eternal life and that eternal life is of the utmost importance.

 

God will not let us down.  God loves us and has made us to be His precious and royal family.  Scripture tells us in 1 Peter2:9;  “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”  WE are called by God to declare the praises of God.  Are we doing this?  It involves stepping out in faith… being brave.  The widow at the temple gave all she had to live on for the work of God who was her life.  Jesus gave all for love of us.  Let us take a moment in prayer to consider the love of God for us.  Two things that I believe God is saying to us today; One is to know that He loves us and assures us that he will provide for us. The second is to encourage us to step out in faith, even when it seems risky, like the widow putting in all she had to live on and Ruth lying at Boaz’s side in the night.  Just be brave and JUMP… Today, can we say, “Yes God, I will go where you call me.”

To see AGAIN ! Proper 25B/ Pentecost 23B 27th Oct 2024

2024  10  27   Proper 25B  Pentecost 23B

 

“I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you;…”

How true, it is for all of us, that we hear of God by the hearing of the ear.  Our parents may have been the ones who introduced us to God, or maybe a friend or teacher.  Something has led us, such that we are here in a place of faith.  We are in a place of faith literally,(church building) but also, figuratively (where we are at on our journey of life).  Our faith is a result of our experiences, who we are and what we have heard. 

 

Job was such a faith-filled man!  He was devoted to God and there was no one so faith-filled and righteous in all the land.  Then, Satan was allowed to afflict him and he remained faithful to God, but he did eventually grumble.  This is us.  We live in this fallen world and we experience probably just some of what Job experienced.  Job had lost his fortune and his children.  He was a man deeply grieved and after a time of grief that was too deep for words, he spoke.  He knew he’d done nothing to deserve the calamity and we can only imagine his feelings.

 

Perhaps you can do more than imagine.  Perhaps, you too have experienced deep grief.  There are many, who I know, who turned away from God after experiencing grief.  One dear friend of mine has experienced pretty near the amount of grief as Job.  It seems that it was one thing after another.  Just when she starts to feel that she is getting her life on track another wave of calamity comes to overwhelm her.  She says that she doesn’t believe in God anymore, even though she was heavily involved and faithful as a young adult.  When we talk, she describes God to me as “YOUR God”… not hers.  What has happened, is that she feels betrayed by God and hurt beyond being able to accept that God, if he exists, could possibly love her.

 

At this point in time, my friend can not SEE God.  She has more than one good Christian friend who try to care for her and encourage her to have faith – but we have not experienced all that she has.  She hears about God, but she can not see him.  She can not see God, because her experience has taught her that God is not on her side and so her eyes are closed to him.

 

Our Psalm today, tells us that “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD rescues them from them all.”   Afflictions happen… over and over, regardless of how righteous we are.  This is the message of the book of Job; bad things happen to good people and it isn’t because of anything that they do.  The cause is unseen and unknown to us, but our response has an effect in the heavenly realm.  Job was truly loved by God and God lifted Job up in the end, but first God showed Job something super important, and a lesson we all need to remember:  When our eyes are opened to see God, we will see that he is so far beyond our image of him that we will be somewhat overwhelmed and even embarrassed.  In Job’s words, “therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes."  Job formally considered himself righteous, but now that he actually SEEs God, he despises himself… such is the glory and righteousness of God.

 

There was a song in the 90s, “One of Us”.  “If God had a face what would it look like? And would you want to see - If seeing meant that you would have to believe - In things like heaven and in Jesus and the Saints - And all the prophets?”  What we learn from Job, is that God is bigger and beyond any box that we put him in….In fact, we have been learning this in the past weeks also, when we looked at the “fear of the Lord” and how that was to have an understanding of the greatness and majesty of God, and we should keep this understanding that God is greater, in mind as we continue to get to know him.  We also need to ask that same question as the song…. Would you want to see?

 

I often ask this question; Would you prefer the truth or a lie that makes you feel comfortable?  It is the same with God.  Do you want to see God?  Remembering that seeing will mean realizing your own error and like Job, despising ourselves and repenting.

 

In our Gospel reading there is a man who wants to see.  Blind Bartimaeus is named as the son of Timaeus.  This tells us that Timaeus was a known person and his son was not just some random blind beggar.  However, his blindness had rendered him completely reliant on others.   In fact, his vision of himself, as a person who needs others to help him, enables an attitude we all need… humility… to ask for help.  Bartimaeus is used to calling out for help, so when Jesus comes by, he calls out loudly.

 

Jesus asks the man what he wants him to do for him.  This is an important question, Jesus doesn’t assume that the blind man is begging and wants money, and he doesn’t assume that the blind man knows who he is and desires healing also, but he asks the blind man what he wants.

 

We know from our previous weeks that Jesus is the exact representation of God.  And something we are told about God is that he respects our free will.  If we don’t want God in our lives, God will seem silent. But quite often we expect God to know what we want even though we haven’t asked.  God does know… but he respects our free will and therefore asks us; “What do you want me to do for you?”

 

In Old Testament times, God was sort through the mediation of a priest.  The Good News comes with Jesus who is greater than a high priest.  With the priestly organisation, there would be certain sacrifices given and then your sins declared forgiven.  The Good news we have is that we give no sacrifice to be forgiven.  We are forgiven because Jesus has, once and for all, become the sacrifice.  So now without any hinderance God asks of us, “What do you want me to do for you?”

 

Bartimaeus knows what he wants.  He wants to see again.  Seeing clearly brings about change.  The Gospel of John tells us that unless you are born again – or born of the spirit, you can not see the Kingdom of God.  We are encouraged to know the truth and the truth will set us free.  We need to see the truth…. We need to realize that God is asking us that same question; “What do you want me to do for you?” 

 

God is always there and always hoping that we will ask him to enable us to see.  We have heard of the goodness and love of God and perhaps we have “seen” that goodness also, therefore we responded by choosing to belong to the family of faith.   However, we live in this world, and we go out into this world, and become distracted or blinded by its temptations.  Its temptations might be the pressure to fit in… and be politically correct, or it or maybe simply its busyness etc… Sometimes these things align with God’s goodness, but often times that pressure to fit in and go with the flow is a long way from putting God first… and we become blinded…. And so, we notice that word at the end of Bartimaeus’ request, the word “AGAIN”!  "My teacher, let me see again."

 

Jesus responds to that request, and the blind man was healed.  Did you notice that when Bartimaeus was healed his life direction changed?  Not only was he no longer begging, but we are told that he followed Jesus on the way.  In some places in the New Testament “The Way” was how they referred to becoming a follower of Jesus.

 

We need to consider; Do we want to see?  Seeing means that we will need to respond to our cleared vision and this may mean perhaps more directly following Jesus.  Seeing God’s way, may even mean a complete turn around.  Bartimaeus threw off his cloak before Jesus healed him.  He already knew that his life was going to change and he welcomed that change.  But he needed to let go of his old life, in order to step into the new.  Are there any things that we need to throw off?  What is it that is holding us back from stepping into the path that Jesus has marked out for us?

 

When Job had his eyes opened to the greatness of God, he repented of his prior limited vision and his future was brighter than his past had ever been.  This life will have afflictions and hardships but our future in God is brighter than anything we can imagine.  To be brave and step into all that God calls us to, we need to see him clearly.  “Lord I want to see again”.  Let this be our prayer this week as we strive to walk into the path that God has called each of us.