World Day of Prayer - Standing with the people in the Cook Islands & reflecting on psalm 139

 2025 World Day of Prayer  - Psalm 139

 

During my teaching degree, at university, our lecturer talked about the difference teaching with girls and boys.  To illustrate she told the story of two students who had failed mathematics the previous year.  The new teacher asked the boy why he thought he failed, and he answered that his last teacher wasn’t very good.  The new teacher asked the girl the same question, however she answered, “I’m no good at maths”.   The point the lecturer was making is that girls are harder on themselves, whereas the boys are more resilient and more likely to blame everyone else for their failure. (and we all know that this started way back in the garden of Eden with Adam).

 

As girls, grown up, when our life goes a little pair shaped, we are still more likely to feel that it is us who is not good enough, and we are the reason that our life is crumbling around us.  The men obviously get to this point too and realize their need for God, but for females, we reach this point more readily and more often.  Psalm 139 is for us.   While men will reach out for God and move on, females are more likely to continue feeling less than good enough.

 

There is something about Psalm 139, that hits you in the heart.  Right from the first line; “You have searched me, Lord, and you know me”, it goes right to the heart of the matter.  We long to be known.  Not just, “Hello my friend…”  but, we long to be truly known.  Our family knows us pretty well, but even they, don’t understand our hidden pain, our hidden hopes and dreams… and especially they don’t know our hidden shame, and that thing we keep well hidden – the sense of not being good enough.

 

When the psalmist says, “Lord, you have searched me, and you know me”, we straight away sense that this searching means we have found a place where we can rest… we have found a place where we are truly known.   But there is more, and it is so important.  God knew us before we were born.  God knew all that we would be and all that we would do and all that we would desire.  He knew the temptations we’d resist and the temptations to which we’d succumb.  And regardless of anything we would do in our futures, He loves us and willingly died to show us this and to ensure that there would be nothing separating us from his love.  

 

Vainiu, tells us that during her formative years she was shamed and devalued in the education system, yet she knew that she was valued by God.  She echoes the psalmist when she says;  “when we are cast out and treated with disrespect, God is still with us. God goes with us to the darkness at the bottom of the ocean, where there is no light. And God helps lead us out of that darkness into a wonderful light.”   She has learnt a lesson that we all need to learn by heart; that God is on our side, loves us and is always with us.

 

We are of such infinite value.  Each of us is a master creation of God.   The psalm tells us that God created my inmost being;  He knit me together in my mother’s womb.  God designed us.  He gave us our personality and made each of us unique and he made us this way for a purpose, but to each of us He has given free will.  We can freely choose to go our own way and rebel against all that God calls us to be, or we can rejoice in the calling of God and grow more and more into his purpose and the person that he calls us to be.

 

Psalm 139 lifts us up.  Think of all the amazing creatures of the earth and the intricacies of creation.  Of all these God said it was good and he was pleased, but when God created us, he said it was very good.  We are the pinnacle of God’s creation.

 

Psalm 139 is also the great equalizer, because this is God’s word to us all.  He knows us all, and loves us all.  He loves us from the time we were conceived – when our life began.  He loves us when we are frail and aging.  At any stage, we are no less precious to him.  This has implications for where we need to stand on areas of social justice, because we know that God values those who are fragile – all are precious to Him.

 

It is my belief that the most effective treatment for the most common of mental health issues, is to learn and understand who we are in God’s heart.  Following on from this has to be the cultivation of a society that treats all as those precious to God.

 

God’s call to us always, is back from the rebellion.  Rebellion is where mankind chose to be something different to God’s design.  God calls us to open our eyes and see ourselves as the person who he created, and to continue growing into the person he calls us to become.  In this there is true freedom.  We can stop trying to be something that we are not and rejoice that we are the workmanship of God.

Ephesians 2:10 “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

As a female we need to be sure that we don’t let the lie that we are not good enough stop us from being the person God created us to be.  Saint Paul in the letter to the Philippians declares, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

As we give thanks to God for the ladies of the Cook Islands we stand with them in praising God and declaring to God, “I will praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;”  Fearfully and wonderfully made by the God who created all this universe, but who about us said, “It is very Good!”

You and I are very loved.

Ash Wednesday 5th March 2025

 Ash Wednesday

Joel 2:1-2, 12-17 or Isaiah 58:1-12   - Psalm 51:1-17  - 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10 - Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

 

Ash Wednesday, we begin the season of Lent and we prepare for the journey to the cross, and to resurrection, and the receiving of the Holy Spirit.  The end goal is to restore us as the people of God as God intended before the fall, where His people are not just physically alive, but also spiritually alive.  Being then, so filled with the Holy Spirit, we can’t help but be witnesses to the Good News of God. 

 

The Good News of God is that Jesus Christ came to make atonement for our sin and bring us eternal life.  In doing this he did away with the old system, where animals were sacrificed as a way to cover our sin.  However, the fact that God required a different kind of sacrifice was known about since the time of King David in the Old Testament.  We are told in our psalm; “The sacrifice of God is a broken spirit: a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”

 

This tells us that there is something in our attitude that is more important to God than the traditional sacrifices.  In other parts of the Bible, such as Isaiah we learn what God would like us to do.  Isaiah 58:6 tells us, “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?  Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them and not to hide yourself from your own kin?”

 

A broken spirit is not seen as being a desirable characteristic in our modern age, yet we are told in the New Testament, “blessed are the poor in spirit”.  The word for contrite in the original language, means to be crushed. In my mind I imagine the sugar cane.  For us to have sugar the cane needs to be crushed.  

 

I don’t naturally like the idea that perhaps I need to be crushed and broken.  However, in reality, life has a way of crushing and breaking all of us.  What do we do when this happens?  Some people refuse to break, and they harden their hearts towards God.  They don’t understand that God loves them and desires good for them, not evil, but they feel betrayed by life and blame God, so they harden and refuse to be crushed or broken – or at least they refuse to admit it.

 

Do you remember the story about the woman who anointed Jesus’ feet, breaking the jar of expensive perfume?  The jar had to be broken for the perfume to be used.  There was exquisite substance inside, which would never have done anything if the jar hadn’t been broken.  The breaking allowed the good stuff to come out – just like the crushing of the cane brings the sugar out.

 

You and I are like the jars of expensive perfume.  God has a planned purpose for us, but we need to let Jesus in, in order that his purpose can be achieved.  To let Jesus in, we need to confess our brokenness.   We ARE broken.  That is the reality.  We all fall short of the perfection of God, and we need him.  In admitting this, we let God into our lives and our brokenness is not a weakness, it is simply a reality that Jesus understands, and in this brokenness we allow God to work and only in that brokenness can he live through us.

 

God knows all those bits that hurt… those bits that are broken, but he asks us to bring them to him, confessing our need for his saving power.  We continue to be broken, but we are filled with God and as we live our lives, we pray that it is the Jesus leaking out of the cracks that others might encounter as we touch their lives. 

 

During lent we often give up things, but when we look at what God requires, we can see that he would prefer our brokenness, allowing Him to live through us.  He calls us to care for others, to break the yoke that is heavy on them and to share bread with them.  When we do this, God breaks through our brokenness and touches our broken world, transforming it.

 

This Lent perhaps we can choose at least one thing we can do that achieves this breaking someone’s yoke or sharing bread with the hungry.  The power to do this is in God living through us.. and in our brokenness, those around us can experience the love of God.  This is what it is all about.  God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that anyone who believes in him might have eternal life.  Let us happily confess our brokenness and allow God to work in us as we reach out in love to those around us – transforming the world around us.

 

 

Turn the other cheek Epiphany 7C 23rd Feb 2025

 2025  02  23   Epiphany 7C

Genesis 45:3-11, 15    Psalm 37.1-11, 40-41   1 Corinthians 15.35-50     Luke 6:27-38

 

The golden rule is “treating others as we would like to be treated”.  All of society is onboard with that one, but this bit about turning the other cheek, is kind of tough and very counter cultural.  Proof of this, I heard Just the other day, about a shop no longer willing to donate their extra coat hangers in case one breaks, and the sharp edge cut some one, and then that someone sue them for damages.  There is no forgiveness, and understanding, let alone turning the other cheek and everyone is scared to do anything.   As soon as I hear this reading about turning the other cheek, I recall a friend who sarcastically repeats it and adds, so what are we meant to do?  Just let everyone walk over us.  Those who have suffered abuse at the hands of another, are they meant to simply take it? 

 

Here we see two extremes; someone who should turn the other cheek, if accidently cut by a coat hanger donated in good faith etc… and then someone who is in real danger if they do turn the other cheek, So, I need to start this with an emphatic, NO, we don’t just let people walk over us, and add that there are plenty of other verses that indicate we need to protect ourselves.  Proverbs 27:12 says, "The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and pay the penalty."  Whenever it seems that the Bible contradicts itself, the truth lies in the tension in between and we are invited, even provoked, to go deeper. 

 

The most important lesson that we need to learn is that God’s ways are different to the ways of our society.  The way of God is far wiser than our ways.  Most importantly, we need to learn what those ways are, because God’s ways, are the way to break through and victory.

 

Today we look at the story of Joseph at the point of victory and break through.  It didn’t happen overnight, but it happened most dramatically.  After being sold by his brothers, and them telling his father that he was dead, thus destroying any hope of rescue, and after many years had passed, here were his brothers given into his hand…. He with the power and them at his mercy.

 

A meme popped up on my facebook that seems quite apt for our readings.  It was a picture of St. Paul and a companion, chained up and in prison, singing praise to God.  The caption read, “there is no excuse not to praise God.”  I was almost going to share it with my own caption; “Easier said than done!”

 

It is natural for us to be angry at those who cause us hurt.  On street Chaplaincy last Friday night, two young men trying to justify themselves, said to me, “If you were really, really angry at a girl, you’d want to hit her, right?”  It seemed that they were wanting to hit some bloke who’d “done them wrong”.   I answered with an emphatic, “No!”  However, why could I say no?  It is only because I have been taught since I was little that laying into someone was not acceptable.  It started when my little sister was old enough to be annoying…. Even if she hit me, I was not to hit her back.  She was little and I was bigger…. But we both grew up knowing that we were not to be physical in our anger.   So, we never hit each other – but I do have to confess that doors were slammed, and the totem tennis got quite a workout.

 

I can’t imagine being as gracious as Joseph was with his brothers.  Joseph truly did love his enemies.  How could he do this?  We learn that he had such faith in God, that no matter what he was going through and no matter how he felt, he never let go of his faith that God was God, and ultimately, he needed to be the person that God called him to be.  Whether it was resisting the temptation of his master’s wife trying to seduce him, or telling the truth to Pharoah about the dreams, Joseph acted with integrity that would have the approval of God, rather than the approval of men – even at the expense of his own safety. 

 

It is worth pointing out that Joseph didn’t just forgive his brothers.  He went above and beyond that and he provided for them.  They did not deserve it.  They did not earn it.  There was nothing in them that should have evoked such a lavish and generous response from Joseph.

 

Joseph was a type of Christ.  Jesus was sold out by one of his close friends, yet his suffering, death and resurrection, is counted as atoning for our sins and bringing us eternal life.   We had not done anything to warrant his actions.  We don’t earn or deserve the grace of God, but he ever so generously lavishes that love and grace on us.  And what’s more, God desires to give us all good things.  Like Joseph, he not only forgives and accepts us, but he gives us gifts and plans for our abundant life.

 

This kind of forgiveness that Joseph showed is not only showing us the love of God, but it is also a miracle.  Who can show this kind of forgiveness and love?  Only God.  This attitude of Joseph is divine, and it is God empowered.  It is not natural.  We are asked to show this same kind of forgiveness and love.  It isn’t natural.  We could even go so far as to say, it is humanly impossible.  It takes a miracle – a gift of God.  We need to be spiritually empowered to have this kind of attitude to each other. 

 

Our letter to the Corinthians tells us that, “Just as we have borne the image of the one of dust, we will also bear the image of the one of heaven.”  This is telling us that we are human and like every human before us, naturally prone to sin and naturally unable to live the way that is perfect.  However, now that we have been born of God, we also bear the image of the one in heaven – that is Christ.  We not only bear his image, but we are empowered by the Holy Spirit, living and working through us.

 

How does this work, in a practical sense?  Firstly we need to be willing to admit that we have a problem.  Those young boys who asked me about wanting to hit someone that I get really angry with, asked because we all have some people in our lives that we find difficult.  This is step one – we acknowledge that we have a problem with forgiving them.  Step two  - we talk to God about them and us and how we know that He requires us to forgive them and treat them with love and kindness, and then ask God to do what we can’t.  Ask him to bring our attitude into line with his will and help us to forgive and love. 

The big warning here is that, if these people are dangerous to us, God will also want to protect us from these people and need us to remove ourselves from danger.  God loves those people, but he absolutely adores us also and doesn’t want us to be harmed.  It is possible to forgive, but walk away.

 

In Jesus’ culture, turning the other cheek was about revealing the actions of the perpetrator.  Those hearing Jesus’ words knew this.  To turn the left cheek after being hit on the right was a bold rejection of the insult, and a challenge to strike again with an open palm.  Striking with an open palm was not something that was done to a lessor – therefore it forced the opponent to symbolically declare the opponent an equal.  Turning the other cheek, publicly proclaims that the opposer holds no power because the victim’s honour is not dependent on human approval.  You notice also, it does this without causing harm.  There is no room for revenge.

 

Our psalmist has these wise words for us; “Trust in the LORD and do good; live in the land, and enjoy security.  Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.  Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act.  He will make your vindication shine like the light and the justice of your cause like the noonday.”

 

God’s ways are the ways of life and break-through.  They are not natural, but they are spiritually empowered.  We have free will and we need to submit that will to God and ask for his divine empowerment to live in love and forgiveness.  Our homework for this week is to put this into action.  Think of someone that you have a problem with…. No, not the one that you think you can forgive… the first one that came to mind who you don’t want to forgive… that one…  bring it to God and ask Him to help you forgive like Joseph.  Remember, God allowed distance between Joseph and his brothers.  Distance is okay…. But we do need to forgive and pray for our enemies.  Victory and Break through will come.  God is faithful and helps us to forgive if we ask him.

Here I am, send me! 9th Feb 2025 Epiphany 5C

 2025  02  09   Epiphany 5C

Isaiah 6:1-8, (9-13)    Psalm 138   1 Corinthians 15:1-11    Luke 5:1-11

This year we have been asked by the Australian Anglican Church to join in a united effort to take the message of the Gospel to our community.  At Synod, all churches declared their support for this venture and pledged that they would take part.  We aim to declare the message, “There is Hope in Jesus”.  Today we see, in our scriptures, that this call to step out of our former way of life and into the exciting plan that God has for us, is affirmed. 

 

Last week we celebrated the presentation of Jesus in the temple.  Mary was told, “and a sword will pierce your own soul”.   The sword that needs to pierce all our souls is the word of God which is alive and active and judges thoughts and intentions of the heart.  When we are honest with ourselves and God, we can come to God, ready for our next step.  Jesus was presented in the temple after his circumcision and after the time of purification.  After the presentation, his life journey continued as he grew into and walked according to God’s perfect plan for his life.  This is also a pattern for the way that God calls us.

 

Today we look at the call of others and learn some important aspects.  Firstly, lets talk about purification.   Many people shy away from stepping out and into the plan of God, because they think they are not good enough…. And they are correct.   NONE of us are good enough.   We need to face that fact with honesty, but then we need to know what God has done for us. 

 

In our first reading, Isaiah declared that he was unworthy.  He declared the truth.  Notice that God didn’t say… “Oh yes you are worthy, Isaiah.”, but instead he has a seraph, which is an angelic being, take a coal from a specific fire and touch his lips with it, thus purifying him.  It all seems very bizarre to us, and I must admit, I have images of Isaiah having burnt lips after this, however, that is not what is happening here.  To understand what is happening we need to understand some aspects familiar to the Israelites.

 

This altar was familiar to Isaiah, as the Israelites had regular sacrifices and rituals involving an altar.  Isaiah knew that the altar with which he was familiar was a copy of the one in heaven.  Here, he was having a vision of the one in heaven.   The reason for the altar was a means to connect with God -  to be forgiven and to be purified or made holy.  For us, Jesus is the sacrificed lamb, who willingly died to make atonement for our sins.  In doing this He makes us holy.   That altar in heaven is holy, because God is Holy, Holy, holy….  We say it three times because he is beyond our comprehension of holy, and also, he is three persons, one God.   There is no way that we can ever be in any way shape of form, worthy enough to speak for God, but Jesus has touched us and in that touch is healing and purification, just as that coal, live with the presence of God, purified Isaiah.

 

The fishermen, especially Peter, knew that he was not worthy.  Peter suddenly realizes that he is in the presence of holiness, and he cannot stand.  He is overwhelmed he falls down at Jesus's knees, and cries out, "Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!"  Jesus doesn’t say, “No, you’re not”.  It is the truth.   Peter has acknowledged it, and we all need to have had that kind of moment in our own lives so that we can then move on to the next step. 

Jesus said to Peter, “Do not be afraid, from now on you will be catching people.”  After this, we are told that those men left everything and followed Jesus.  (somewhere else, we are told that these followers were made “clean” by the word that Jesus spoke to them).

 

Isaiah and the apostles, especially Peter, knew that they were not worthy, but we know that they were mightily called and used to bring God’s message to the people.   We are asked by God to go out into all the world,  making disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that Jesus commanded us.   How are we going with this?  We have some baptisms, but that is only one part of this great commission.  Are we making disciples?  Are we going out to all the world… or even, are we going out into our community?  That is what Hope 25 is getting us to do… to go out into our community, to our neighbours, friends and family, with the message that there is hope in Jesus.

 

Our reading from the letter to the Corinthians tells us about the important points in the message that we take to the world.  Saint Paul explains point number one -  that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures.    Some people would say, we are not really sinners… no one is really bad… it is all just poor circumstances.  Absolutely, this is nearly always the case, but it doesn’t make us any less a sinner.  There but for the grace of God go I, and yet all of us…. Isaiah and Peter included are not worthy of God…. We are not and cannot ever be worthy in our own strength.  We might be admirable in the eyes of men, but that sword of the spirit that convicts of truth knows our heart and compared to God our righteous acts are as filthy rags.  That sentiment comes from the book of Isaiah also; Isaiah 64:6  “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.”

 

God so loved the world that Jesus came to die for us.  If he didn’t need to do this because of our sin, he would not have said that he did.   We focus on the love of God, but we need to be careful that we don’t dismiss sin because we are trying to be loving.  Even if there is a good reason for sin, it is still sin… and sin, according to our scriptures, is something we all share because all fall short of the glory of God and scripture also tells us that anything that is not of faith is sin.

Step one is that we agree with God.  We are not worthy, and we need him, but the good news is that Jesus died to make atonement for sin, so that we can be redeemed…. In other words, bought back to the family of God.

 

The second part of the message we proclaim is that Jesus was buried (really and truly dead) and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures.  This was no ordinary man who died for us, but God incarnate.   He rose from the dead.  As man, Jesus could suffer and die, but as God, Jesus is eternal, and he conquered death and rose on the third day.   He rose… he properly and fully rose.  It wasn’t a figure of speech or some kind of parable.  We know that he rose because he appeared to Peter and the disciples and then to more than five hundred people at one time.  This is what we are told in the letter and these people testified to this fact.

 

God was a man who lived among us.  Because of his great love for us he paid the spiritual price for our sins – death – the wages of sin is death.  This is more than a nice philosophical religious idea and Jesus proved the truth by rising from the dead.  This is how we have hope and faith in God.  This is not blind faith, there were eye witnesses – many of them.

 

In the year 2025, there are more people with mental health issues than ever before and more people with depression.  Young people feel that there is no hope.  They think we are destroying the climate and everywhere they turn there is division over ideology and violent protests.  No one thinks that they are a sinner, but I suspect they can all tell you someone who is.  Deep down we know we are not as good as the image we try to project, so how might it make a difference if we could confess, “Lord I am not worthy!”? 

 

Our world needs desperately to know Jesus.  When we come to him, we find that he makes us whole.  He takes us, as we are and through his blood we are cleansed… we are healed.  This is hope… the only true hope.  There is only hope in Jesus… hope for now and hope for eternity, but the world will never know the truth unless we do something about it.  The voice of the Lord is saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?"

Can we all right now, in prayer… turn to God and like Isaiah say; "Here am I; send me!"

A SWORD WILL PIERCE YOUR OWN SOUL TOO Presentation of the Lord 2nd Feb 2025

 2025  02  02 Presentation of the Lord Year C

Malachi 3:1-4     Psalm 24     Hebrews 2:14-18     Luke 2:22-40

Can you imagine how bewildering it would be to have given birth and go to present your child in the temple, only to be stopped not once, but twice, with people declaring things about your child and his future?  Obviously, this was no ordinary child.

 

In the Jewish tradition, when a woman gave birth to her first born and that firstborn was male, they were to consecrate that child as holy to the Lord.  This comes from the commands of Moses and is written in the Old testament.  It says, Exodus 22:29 “Do not hold back offerings from your granaries or your vats. “You must give me the firstborn of your sons.  Do the same with your cattle and your sheep. Let them stay with their mothers for seven days, but give them to me on the eighth day.”

 

The reason for this was about remembering.  The people were to remember a particular defining moment in their history, because that defining moment was also a prophecy of their future.  That moment was when the people were slaves in Egypt and being so hard pressed.  Pharoh would not let the people go and so God sent the Angel of Death to take the first born of every womb, both animal and human.  However, the Israelites were spared if they had sacrificed a lamb and painted it’s blood over their door post as a sign to the Angel.  They were then saved by the blood of the lamb.

 

In the future, ever after that event, God wanted to let the people remember that the first born, who were the sign of the nation’s strength and future, belonged to him.  Israel had a future, only because of God’s great deliverance.  Therefore, the people were to give the first born back to God, mostly through giving as a sacrifice, but the sons were to be redeemed… or bought back by the sacrifice.  The first born was substituted for an animal or monetary payment.

 

This system of sacrifice, substitution and redemption would set up the understanding of our salvation.    Christ, the first-born son of God would be the sacrifice, substitution who would redeem us from the legal right that Satan had over us.

 

Our letter from the Hebrews explains this for us when it tells us that Jesus had to share in our flesh and blood so that through his death he might destroy the one who has the power of death   -  the devil.   We previously have lived our lives, unwittingly, in slavery to the devil, as those who followed our own ways instead of God’s.  It can be as simple as any time we are trusting in our own strength to save us, instead of trusting in God, because the Bible tells us that anything that is not of faith is sin, and it also tells us that everyone falls short of the glory of God.  And this all started at the beginning of time.  Everyone ever born has done this, and it is explained to us by our story of the garden of Eden.

 

Following our own ways and trusting in ourselves rather than trusting and believing the word of God is something we all do.  However, Christians strive to live by faith and trust in God.  When we aren’t trusting in God we are living as slaves to death.  Scripture tells us in Galations 2:19-20 “For through the law I died to the law so that I might live to God.  I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”

 We are finite and can not save ourselves beyond maybe an immediate situation… if that.  However, God has made a way to save for eternity.  It involves him redeeming us and it is through the substitution of Jesus’ life, given as a sacrifice for al of us.   Jesus could do this because he became one of us - yet did not sin.  He didn’t sin, not so much because he resisted temptation and didn’t do this or that,… but because he lived his life in complete trust and faith in God the father.  As Hebrews tells us; Therefore he had to become like his brothers and sisters in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make a sacrifice of atonement for the sins of the people.

 

The key to living right, is in living by faith and trust in God.  God knows that we will still sometimes fall…. And fall again, even while we are striving, so we are to remember that Christ has already made atonement for that sin…. we are free and no longer a slave to sin because we have faith and believe God.

 

The important question is; Do we believe God?  We can believe there is a God, but do we believe God…. Believe what he says… believe in his word?  Jesus is the word of God.  We are told in Hebrews 4:12”For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

 

To believe God means that when God says, “Don’t eat the fruit from that tree”, we say AMEN…. And we don’t.   Why?  Because we believe God…. Completely! 

When God says, “don’t eat the fruit from that tree”, what does that mean for you?  What tree and what fruit is it in our lives that we are inclined to not believe God’s word about?

 

Mary is told that a sword will pierce her own soul.  Many have said that this refers to the sorrow that she would experience as a mother seeing her son crucified.  No doubt that was part of it all, but it seems to me that it is about more than this.  The prior sentence tells us about Jesus.  "This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed--and a sword will pierce your own soul, too."

 

“The inner thoughts revealed, and a sword will pierce your own soul too”.  The word of God is a two-edged sword, judging the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.  All of us and even Mary, need this sword to pierce our soul.  We need to be willing to allow God to reveal to us our thoughts and attitudes that need correction, if we are to live lives according to God’s will. 

 

In our first reading we are also told;  “he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to the LORD in righteousness.”

 

Sometimes we might think being a Christian is just about believing that there is a God.  There is more to it than that.  Even Demons KNOW that there is a God.  Sometimes we might think that being a Christian is about giving thanks to God for sending Jesus to bring us eternal live.  It is!  But there is more to it than that.  Being a Christian means being filled with God’s Holy Spirit, who teaches us and refines us.  Sometimes we will feel incredible sorrow at the sin in the world and we will feel the pain of others, because this is what it means to be the body of Christ… we will feel his pain – and a sword will pierce your own soul.  Being a Christian is about believing God.  Believing what he says.  Believing what he promises.  It is about allowing that sword  - the word of God – to pierce our soul.

 

Baby Jesus was presented in the temple on the 40^th day, but the verses prior to our reading tell us about the 8^th day.  The eighth day is a huge day for any first-born Jewish son, as he is also circumcised on the eighth day.  literally, the child is cut and then purification time takes place and then the baby is presented.  Everything ordered by God is a prophetic sign declaring God’s message.  We too need that sword to pierce our soul and then we purify ourselves by believing God and then we present ourselves to God.  Here we begin the journey that God has planned for us.

 

God has a plan and a purpose for us.  Being a Christian means having that sword pierce our soul…. We are cut to the heart and have had our thoughts and our attitudes laid bare to God… we’ve brought them all to him in prayer.  In revelation brought about by that sword we realize our need for him and his salvation,  - we believe him, and now we present ourselves as his chosen people ready and willing to do his will and walk in that plan and purpose to which he has called us.   The Christian Church has become a small army.  We are being called to present ourselves in the temple…. Here we are Lord, we come to do your will.  Raise us up as a might army of the Lord.

We wait in hope for the Lord AUSTRALIA DAY 2025

 2025  01  26  AUSTRALIA DAY SERVICES –

 Jeremiah 29:4-14      Psalm 33:12-21      1 Thessalonians 5:12-24        John 8:31-36

It is great that we have this opportunity to take time to reflect on our nation, and especially to pray for our nation, as we come to Australia Day.  This is the land in which we are living, and our readings today, tell us a thing or two about the attitude we should have toward the land in which we are living.  The prophet, Jeremiah, was encouraging the Israelites who were in exile, but more than that, he was delivering the word of God.  A message for the people. And a message for us!

 

We get a hint, when it talks about the false prophets telling them what they want to hear, that at the time, many would have argued that this “Word”, was not what they wanted.  For those longing to be back in their own land, they were told that it would be 70 years before that would happen.  So, how old would you be by the time you could go home?  If you were 7 years old, you would be 77 years old.  The younger ones would not even remember their former home.  Their home in exile would be the only home they know, and many who were older would have been dead by the time of the fulfillment of the prophecy.

 

The word of the Lord was meant to be a redirect – to think on the future.  It was an exhortation to seek the prosperity of the land in which they were living, and to pray for it and to make their good life there.  However, while they were being blessed and prospering, rather than forgetting where they were from, God promised them a unique place of their own. A place that was truly their home, and God would take them back.  In the meantime, they would remember and declare that sentiment in the Psalm that we read; “We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield.” 

 

The Israelites longed for the time when God would bring them back to their real home.  God wanted them to live their lives fully integrated in this land, but he also wanted them to remember that they were unique – His chosen people.  To do this they needed to remember who they were and where they came from…. Much like in a line from the Lion King.  The young Simba had left his family and friends in disgrace…. He remained in exile.  Sometime later he received this message, “Remember who you are”.  Simba was no ordinary Lion.  He was the son of the king…. The heir to the throne.  The Israelite people were also in exile, in disgrace.  They had turned their backs on God and had not followed His ways.  God had warned that if this happened, they would be sent into exile.  But now they were told that God had not forgotten them.  He would bring them back – eventually.  The message from God is always, “Remember who you are… and whose you are”.  This hope in God, kept them distinct as a people, and it kept them united and strong as a nation, though fully integrated in their new home.  Their hope kept them faithful, and it defined their identity.

 

This weekend we have a national holiday for Australia Day… On the same day is also Indian Republic Day, which I discovered is also a national holiday in India commemorating the adoption of the Constitution of India, and the country's transition to a republic which came into effect on 26 January 1950.  Since the beginning of Australia Day being celebrated, there has been some controversy.  Some will call it invasion day, as the day when the British flag was raised on January 26, 1788, at Sydney Cove, Australia by Captain Arthur Phillip. 

 

Australia Day, as a celebration, took place on July 30, 1915 as a fundraiser for World War I.  Then in 1935, The Australian Natives Association pushed for the celebration of Australia Day in every Australian state.  This men’s group desired to promote Australian heritage and idealism.  It was from their own perspective, of course, which was as native-born Australian citizens of European descent, but at that time, this group of people had no real identity…. No connection with the land of their ancestors, and unlike the Israelites in our first reading, no promise of a home of their own.  What would you have proposed as a way to give these people unity, identity, a hope and a future?

 

Whether we were born here, of first nations, became or born an Australian citizen, we are called to pray for the nation and work for the prosperity of the land.  As Christians, wherever we are, we are to live fully as citizens of that land, and we are called to be praying for that nation’s advancement. 

 

Regardless of any Ancestral nationality, all of us are actually a people in exile living in this land, regardless of whether it is Australian or anywhere else in the world, because we are the people of God, and our true home is in heaven.  The country song, Temporary Home by Carrie Underwood, says this, “this is our temporary home.  Windows and rooms that we’re passing through.  This is just a stop to where we are going.  This is our temporary home.”  We are like those young Israelites living in exile, and born in exile, never knowing their true home.  This place feels so much like where we belong.  We, like those Israelite people, need the word of God… the prophecy… to declare to each other who we are, and what is, our true identity.  We need to know that our Christian story is not just something for Sunday, but it is the truth that is truer than our temporary reality.  And we need to remind each other;  “We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield.” 

 

Rex and I were in a taxi that seemed to be deliberately taking us the long way to a train station.  When finally dropped off, it was not the train station we requested but was at a train station that wasn’t working.  An elderly man was there also looking for a train.  A young man who worked there, explained the process to us all and walked us to the corner, showing us where to catch a bus.  At this point the elderly man said, he was going back to see his wife, but told us that he felt compelled, that he needed to tell us, that Jesus is coming soon.  

I must confess, I generally expect each year to roll much like the last one did, without much to write home about.  We proclaim the mystery of faith at every service that Christ will come again but tend to think it will be in the distant future.  However, this experience has challenged me to ponder whether our relaxed attitude, thinking we have plenty of time before Jesus comes, is really living like the bridesmaids who didn’t bring oil for their lamps…  (in our case thinking that we have plenty of time to go back to the market many times and buy more oil.). 

 

The early Christian Church didn’t fully live in their lands, praying for the nations and seeking it’s prosperity, because they believed that Christ was coming imminently – VERY soon.  We seem to have fallen into the opposite problem…. We think it is a long way off.

 

The Christian Church in many places is diminishing.  The lamp is growing dim.  But we are here now… filling our lamps with oil.  What can we do?  My grand daughter has become a fan of Frozen and knows all the songs from both the first and second movie and so I got to watch with her.  There is an important line in the second movie.  Anna thinks that her sister is dead, and she doesn’t know what to do. She feels grief and confusion and realizes that she doesn’t know very much and doesn’t know how to make things right.  What can she do in this time of confusion and grief?  she remembers someone advising her to simply “do the next right thing”.

 

We don’t have the answers to ease the pain of those hurting over the ways of our nation.  We don’t have the answers to solve the problems facing our church.  But we can do the next right thing, pray and seek the prosperity of our nation.  Proclaim the Good News, that there is hope in Jesus.  Our reading from the letter to the Thessalonians tells us to always rejoice.  We may feel more like lamenting, but even in this we are to give thanks in ALL -all circumstances and to pray continually.  We are to always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else.  And all THIS is God’s will for us in Christ Jesus.

 

We must not to quench the Spirit.  In 1606 Captain Pedro Fernandez de Quiros, a Catholic Portuguese seaman and explorer, was on a journey to discover the ‘mythical’ Great South Land and to claim it for Phillip III of Spain.  He actually landed on Vanuatu, but thought it was Australia.  He claimed that, and all land from there south, as the great South Land of the Holy Spirit.   Certainly, after my recent visit to the Island in south Vanuatu, it is evident that the Holy Spirit is alive, active and moving.  The whole time that tourists were on Mystery Island, the native band was singing Christian songs. Then when we attended the tour on the nearby Island of Aneityum, we all received a blessing from the elder before we left.

We have free will.  We are here in this land Australia.  If it is to be the land of the Holy Spirit, that requires us to intentionally use our free will to cooperate with God and pray for the Holy Spirit to move on us and in our land.  We are all called to be God’s prophets of hope, declaring to our nation the Good News of Jesus, and praying (prophetically claiming) this land we live in as the Great South Land of the Holy Spirit.  And our nation will then prosper and be blest, because blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord. (Psalm 33).

 

God knows our future and the future of our land.  He tells us that he has plans for us; plans to prosper us and not to harm us, plans to give us a hope and a future.  We live in faith, that Christ is coming, but until then we live fully integrated and pray for our nation’s prosperity and future.  Lord, send us your Spirit.  “We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield.” 

Epiphany - Realizing the enormous implication of Christmas - He came for us ALL

 2025  01  05  Epiphany  (JAN 06)

Sadly, we can now take down our Christmas trees, but don’t worry, it is only 355 days until it will be Christmas again… and about 321 until you can put your tree up again.

 

We take our Christmas trees down, but I’m reminded of a line in the famous Charles Dickens, “A Christmas Carol” where the central character, Scrooge has had a change of heart about Christmas after his visits from the three Ghosts of Christmas past, Christmas present and Christmas future.  The quote is this; “"I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.  I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future.  The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach.”

 

Scrooge, through those visits to the past, present and future, was given a look at things as they were, are and might be.  In doing so, he attained a new perspective.  It would be very true to describe this new perspective as an epiphany.  He came to a brand new and wonderful realization.  According to the online dictionary, this is what Epiphany means;  a moment of sudden and great revelation or realization.

 

Today we celebrate the feast of the Epiphany.  This is the great and sudden revelation and realization that Christ came, not just to be the saviour and messiah for the Jews, but he also came for the Gentiles as represented by the Magi- The wise men from the East.

 

Who were these mysterious men?  It doesn’t actually say that there were three of them.  Over the years there have been speculations and stories told that took poetic licence, designating that there were three (probably due to the three gifts) and named them kings.  Certainly, these were learned men who were not Jews.  These Magi came from the East and they studied the stars.  After researching the various ideas and opinions about the Magi, it is acknowledged, and I agree, that the most reliable source of information about them is actually the Bible itself.

 

In the 6^th century before Christ was born, many Jews were carried off into exile in Babylon.  Remember the song?  By the rivers of Babylon?  Which is of course from the Psalm 137.  Well, this is the story or the song of lamentation when those people were carried off to Babylon.  At that time the King of Babylon was looking for some wise men to work for him and Daniel was one of those men and he became a leader among those wise men.  The story of this and more is in our Biblical book of Daniel. 

 

The Book of Daniel mentions others who were advisors to the King – calling them wise men and astronomers - Magi.  At this time there were a group of people, the Chaldeans, who had been absorbed into the Babylonian Empire, and they were famous for their fixation with the stars and planets.  They were quite brilliant and influential with other people groups who had been mixed into that empire.  Daniel was observed by the King and all others to be a person of outstanding understanding and wisdom.  When the King had a dream that the other wise men, who worshipped various other Gods, could not interpret, Daniel came to the rescue.  Unlike the other wise men, Daniel whole heartedly relied on God as the source of his wisdom and declared this openly.

 

The significant part of the Book of Daniel, for our purpose, is that an Angel appeared to him and declared many things about the Messiah and even the time when the Messiah would arrive…. Although it was in a kind of code that I don’t understand…. But Daniel did and so did those he taught.  This was all recorded and written down – which is why we have the Book of Daniel -  and it is assumed that these writings were common knowledge among those people who worked with Daniel – ie, the Magi (Wise men). 

 

Interestingly, there is a modern astronomer who researched the stars at the time that Christ was born.  His name is Rick Larson and he used NASA technology and discovered an extremely rare triple conjunction: The “king” star (Regulus) crossing the “king” planet (Jupiter) within the constellation of the lion (Leo), “king” of the animals.  This showed three astronomical aspects denoting King…   King, king, king.  Also interesting to note that the constellation of the lion has an association with the Kingly tribe of Judah.  The messiah was often referred to as the lion of Judah.   I can imagine with the knowledge of the prophecy from Daniel and the knowledge and study that this group of people had in watching the stars, this sign in the sky proclaimed to them that a King of Kings was near.  (https://www.oneforisrael.org/holidays/how-did-the-magi-from-the-east-know/)

 

This is all very interesting, but of what consequence is it to us?  Something so significant happened, that some of the wisest people on earth came looking for the King of the Jews.  Something so significant happened that there were signs in the heavens telling about it.  Which reminds me of Psalm 19 that says, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge.…”  as they say – The truth is out there… it truly is. 

 

At that time the people who were outsiders…. Wise and trained in the prophecy, but outsiders none the less… these came to worship Jesus.  Our first reading prophetically tells us that “A multitude of camels shall cover you, the young camels of Midian and Ephah; all those from Sheba shall come. They shall bring gold and frankincense and shall proclaim the praise of the LORD.”  This was referring to those outsiders who would come to worship the Lord.  The Epiphany is when we celebrate the realization that God came to be the saviour, not just for the Jews, but for us also. …  the outsiders.

 

Now, today, we have been grafted in, to the family of God.  We are no longer outsiders.  We look forward to Christ’s return and pray that his kingdom come, knowing that His will be a rule like that described in our Psalm, which is acknowledged as a prophetic psalm about the Messiah; “In his days may righteousness flourish and peace abound, until the moon is no more.  May the kings of Tarshish and of the isles render him tribute; may the kings of Sheba and Seba bring gifts.  May all kings fall down before him, all nations give him service.”  Here again we also see the prophecy of him being brought gifts by outsiders.

 

There is just one more thing I want to make known to you; Jesus was born in Bethlehem, not far from Jerusalem, yet the “Insiders”, the Chief Priests and Scribes and the King of Judea, did not bring him gifts.  Some ignored, the other tried to kill him.  It was the outsiders who worshiped.

 

Christmas may be over for the year, but what has it meant to us?  Will we be like the Chief Priests and Scribes, with the knowledge of the truth, but not letting it affect us too much, or will we be like the wise men and worship, offering our gifts and our giftedness?

 

Scrooge promised to honour Christmas in his heart and try to keep it all the year.  This is the epiphany we need too.  Our eyes need to be opened to seeing the love of God and the incredible miracle of the fact that God became flesh.  There is no God like our God.  God became human and died and rose, so that we too could have eternal life.  He is our saviour.  Don’t miss the magnitude, by being so familiar with the story that we, like the scribes leave him to “do his own thing” in Bethlehem.  Let us determine to deliberately and with all our energy, follow the star, leaving homely comforts and connect with the life of Jesus… come and worship, and let us also promise to keep Christmas in our hearts all year round.