Year A Epiphany 4 30 January 2011
Micah 6: 1-8 Psalm 15 1 Corinthians 1: 18-31 Matthew 5: 1-12
Everything is upside down and nothing is as it seems. In this world we talk of Karma and getting what we and others deserve – but this isn’t the Good News – the Good News turns Karma on it head.
In this world we work at talking ourselves up and promoting ourselves. We’ve come a long, long way from the message of the Beatitudes.
Matthew 5:3-8 “ 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.8 blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”
Each of our readings tells us how we can come close to God. The 1st reading comes to us from the prophet Micah. In this God calls the mountains to witness to the fact that Israel has turned against God even though he has done mighty works for the nation and rescued them in dramatic and miraculous ways. At this time in history it was understood that God was good and that sin needed to be atoned for with sacrifice, yet God asks for something else.
Micah 6:7-8 “7 Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? 8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”
In our mortal minds we try to justify ourselves with our actions. We do good things and feel that we are good people. Similarly the Israelites knew the letter of the law and which sacrifices were required for what sins, so they were able to feel guilt free by their sacrifices, especially if they were wealthy and could afford generous sacrifices. While this system of sacrifice for sin made it clear that sin needed to be atoned for, the people often failed to see that what really pleased God was an attitude of the heart.
An attitude of love towards God and others was not just a New Testament idea. We find the concept of love for God and others explained as acting justly, loving mercy and walking humbly with God.
The Merchant of Venice, when Portia speaks to Shylock in Act IV, Scene I.
“The quality of mercy is not strained. It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest:
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.
...............
It is an attribute of God himself;
And earthly power doth then show like God's
When mercy seasons justice.”
If you were to ask people randomly down the street if they thought they were going to heaven they’d probably say they hoped that they were good enough. If you were to probe further you’d probably find that they figured themselves to be pretty good people. If you were to ask why they thought they were pretty good they’d probably tell you that they don’t go to church but they do keep the commandments. Unfortunately people forget that the first and greatest command is to love God, and so without a personal relationship with God, people are well and truly breaking the first commandment and are not “walking humbly with God”.
The Psalm says it straight that only those who keep God’s law will live with him. Once again this reading is like a clarification of God’s requirements and a clarification of the commandments:
Psalm 15:1-5 “ 1 LORD, who may dwell in your sacred tent? Who may live on your holy mountain? 2 The one whose walk is blameless, who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from their heart; 3 whose tongue utters no slander, who does no wrong to a neighbor, and casts no slur on others; 4 who despises a vile person but honors those who fear the LORD; who keeps an oath even when it hurts, and does not change their mind; 5 who lends money to the poor without interest; who does not accept a bribe against the innocent”.
When Jesus walked the earth he also clarified the commandments but put it in another way, because to keep the law would result in blessings and so He says, “blessed are those who....” For example: Matthew 5:8 “8 blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”
What we commonly refer to as the Beatitudes, is an explanation of the attitude which we will have if we are not just keeping the letter of the law, but also the heart of God’s law.
The readings can come across as somewhat challenging and even frightening. When we read the Psalm and realize that we need to be blameless to live with God. We become immediately aware that “blameless” is what we are not. So, how are we meant to think about this reading which so bluntly states in black and white the demands of God?
It is absolutely and eternally true that God is perfect and to be with him we need to be perfect also. It is also made abundantly clear in the readings that to be perfect is not something we can achieve with exterior actions and things we do, but we must also be “pure in heart” and have an attitude that is perfectly in line with God also. So, who can live with God????
Just as we read in Micah about God’s requirements to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with Him, so too these attributes of justice and mercy are the attributes of God.
God is just and requires justice. Justice means getting what we deserve. Unfortunately, according to God’s perfection, none of us deserves to live with him because we all fall short of His perfection.
Thankfully God is also merciful. And here is where we understand St. Pauls letter to the Corinthian’s when he says: 1 Corinthians 1: 18 “ 18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”
It seems crazy, but because God is both just and merciful, he came to make restitution for us so that we could be united with him. Justice demanded that we be cut off from God due to sin, but God’s love and mercy meant that he paid the price himself. It did not come cheap and we should fully understand the magnitude of the gift.... without it we are truly doomed, but with this gift we have hope and eternal life.
Many can not accept the message of the Good News. This message of mercy shown to us means that we can not earn our way into heaven and for some it is simply too easy – it seems like foolishness. There is no other religion that requires nothing more than the mercy of God in order to have eternal life bestowed upon us. Remember this gift came to a community of God’s people who had been given the law of God and it was very much a system of cause and effect, of sin and sacrifice to atone for sin. Who’d have imagined that God would be the ultimate sacrifice so that anyone who simply believed could be saved?
Those who rejected the message may have rejected it on the basis of pride. They may have felt that their sacrifices were enough. They may have been ignorant of God’s requirements for a perfect attitude and thought that they were keeping the commands and so, had no need of a saviour. When we walk humbly with our God we recognise that He is great and we are oh so fallible. In other words, we recognise that we are poor in spirit and need God. When we do this we are able to accept the gift of God and we are truly blessed.
We who’ve accepted the Gospel are blessed with eternal life, a gift that none can take and a hope that will not disappoint. My step son is looking at getting a tattoo and has decided on a design. The image is of an eternity symbol and words underneath that say “forever does happen” – so true. Already he has received some philosophical discussion about how he can’t know that forever happens and it was pointed out that to know such a thing would require one to be infinite.
We have in Jesus, one who eternally existed, was crucified and rose again, as testified by many who saw him at the time –and those who’ve experienced him throughout time. But the message is foolishness to those around us. Thank God though, that the Gospel message is true, and we have the gift of the Holy Spirit to affirm the Good News, because without the gift of God’s mercy, the death and resurrection of Jesus, we have no hope
1 Corinthians 1:30 “30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31 Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”
In Jesus we are made right with God, we are made holy and we are redeemed. Nothing that we have done has achieved this – we boast only in God and His love.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Reflection on readings for the 23rd January 2011
Year A Epiphany 3 23 January 2011
Isaiah 9: 1-4 Psalm 27: 1, 4-9 1 Corinthians 1: 10-18 Matthew 4: 12-23
Do you wonder what it must feel like to live in the shadow of deep darkness? Or maybe that is where you feel you are at now. The prophet Isaiah saw a people who were in need. It wasn’t just a need for food, clothing and shelter, but the need ran much deeper.
I have no doubt that there are so many people affected by the floods at present feeling like they are living in a land of darkness and for some they will feel that they will be living in the land of such deep darkness it could be described, as Matthew’s gospel quotes, as the very shadow of death.
Do you recall the song “Stormy Weather”? If you take notice of the lyrics you’ll realise that the author describes a state of living in a shadow, as if walking under a big dark cloud. I’m not sure if the experience is common to everyone, but certainly those who have struggled with depression and those who’ve experienced considerable grief will understand.
The shadow or darkness that the scriptures tell us about is like this but deeper and darker. It is the very shadow of death and it is more than an illusion. It is a reality.
The reality of living in the shadow of the death is that the full effects of a fallen world are our experience and reality. Our fallen world subject to decay due to sin is hard enough but the even more drastic consequence is that of our eternal life.
I can’t comprehend how so many would rather live in the shadow of death when they could be living in the light of God’s Good News. Most probable is that they do not comprehend the reality of the situation, and just how simply good the Gospel message is.
Isaiah 9:2 “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned”.
In the deep darkness and dawning light is a fantastic thing.
I’m currently at Tamworth and am earning the title of Niki the gadget queen. When there is a need for something I usually have it in my handbag. One of my obsessions is torches. I have two torches travelling with me and both have been used. It would be silly to have these lights and not use them.
Similarly it seems a pointless waste to be living in the land of deep darkness when we could be living in the light.
Matthew 4:16, 17 “16 the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.” 17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
The message that Jesus preached was the first part of the good news: the kingdom of heaven is near. The fullness of the good news was the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Jesus also informed the people that to be ready for this kingdom they needed to repent.
“Repent” is a word we hear in Christian circles and is associated with a feeling of regret, yet it is not an emotion, though emotions may accompany, but essentially repentance is an intellectual event. To repent means to “change your mind”… or turn around in your thinking. For example the human race thinks it has no need for God. At some point each human individual needs to rethink this situation. When we decide that we do need God it is called “Repentance”, because we’ve changed our mind. The thoughts and beliefs that we have then determine our actions and also impact on our emotions.
The scriptures tell us to be transformed by the renewing of our mind, the reason being, just as I’ve said, from our thoughts our actions and emotions flow. It isn’t an easy thing though and we don’t have to feel like a failure when we struggle as we have the example of the great psalmist and we see how he strives to put aside his fears:
Psalm 27:1-2, 4-5 “ 1 The LORD is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid? 4 One thing I ask from the LORD, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple. 5 For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock.”
The Psalmist states truth about God rescuing him and sets it to music, but we notice that in the song he includes his personal feelings and prayer that God will keep him safe… It is like the flip side of the coin. “Yes Lord, I believe, and know the truth about how you love me… but help my unbelief.”
Psalm 40:7-9 “7 Hear my voice when I call, LORD; be merciful to me and answer me. 8 My heart says of you, “Seek his face!” Your face, LORD, I will seek. 9 Do not hide your face from me, do not turn your servant away in anger; you have been my helper. Do not reject me or forsake me, God my Savior.”
In the epistles, the letters of the New Testament, we find the apostles striving to convey the truth about Jesus Christ to a Christian audience. These people had received the Gospel, the good news, but due to their error in their thinking some of their actions were completely wrong.
The error of the Corinthian church was not so different from the church today. Some were saying they belonged to Peter, and others were saying that they followed Paul, and still others were saying they belonged to Appollis. Similarly we will find an attitude of spiritual pride in the churches today where one will say, “I belong to the such and such Church…. You should come here to OUR church, because YOUR church doesn’t have the truth and ours does.”
We might say, “I follow tradition, tried and tested and true… so I am right and you are wrong”. We might say, “I follow contemporary worship… so I am right and you are wrong!” We could even say, “We don’t follow set readings and structure…. The Spirit of Jesus isn’t confined to structure”. All these things are both true and false. Although I’ve even heard things like, “You must speak in tongues to have the Holy Spirit and you are not a true Christians without it.”
St. Paul was very upset about this kind of thinking and I hate it too. It is arrogant and narrow minded.
1 Corinthians 1:13-18 “13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul? 14 I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so no one can say that you were baptized in my name. 16 (Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else.) 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. 18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”
What is it that we value in our churches? What qualities do we look for in our leaders? Is it abilities and reputation, or talent and artistic ability, good looks or charisma? I imagine that in our churches we would greatly value eloquence and wisdom…. Actually I would really like to have it while I’m writing these reflections…. But rather than write with poetic phrases and awesome analogies (which I really do appreciate) I’d rather write something that is powered by the Holy Spirit, enlightens the mind with truth and speaks straight to the heart.
King David was a small man, who was too young and unimpressive to be anointed, but he was the one that God chose. God is concerned about the heart and unfortunately for us this is not something that we can see on the outside, however, as I have said, from our beliefs our actions and emotions flow. Do we fully appreciate the genuine hearts in our community and are we working at having this attitude ourselves?
I have no doubt that St. Paul was capable of eloquent words, but his was striving to be simply true to the message of God and mission that he was given to preach the good news. He explained that the message seemed like foolishness. It certainly seems too good to be true. Do we understand what that message is?
The message seems foolish. We are sinners who constantly fail God and yet while we were still sinning and rejecting God he came into this world as one of us and suffered and died for us. How crazy is that??? Not only that, but the pre-requisite for receiving eternal life is not some hard initiation ceremony or a life of penitence and abstinence, but the pre-requisite is simply to repent and to believe in Jesus Christ. It is so simple and yet so many choose to live a life needlessly in the dark. So many are insulted when it is suggested that they are sinners, yet we are all sinners. It is a fact of humanity that we fail to be perfect and that is what sin means… to miss the mark of perfection.
1 Corinthians 1:18 “18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”
Isaiah 9: 1-4 Psalm 27: 1, 4-9 1 Corinthians 1: 10-18 Matthew 4: 12-23
Do you wonder what it must feel like to live in the shadow of deep darkness? Or maybe that is where you feel you are at now. The prophet Isaiah saw a people who were in need. It wasn’t just a need for food, clothing and shelter, but the need ran much deeper.
I have no doubt that there are so many people affected by the floods at present feeling like they are living in a land of darkness and for some they will feel that they will be living in the land of such deep darkness it could be described, as Matthew’s gospel quotes, as the very shadow of death.
Do you recall the song “Stormy Weather”? If you take notice of the lyrics you’ll realise that the author describes a state of living in a shadow, as if walking under a big dark cloud. I’m not sure if the experience is common to everyone, but certainly those who have struggled with depression and those who’ve experienced considerable grief will understand.
The shadow or darkness that the scriptures tell us about is like this but deeper and darker. It is the very shadow of death and it is more than an illusion. It is a reality.
The reality of living in the shadow of the death is that the full effects of a fallen world are our experience and reality. Our fallen world subject to decay due to sin is hard enough but the even more drastic consequence is that of our eternal life.
I can’t comprehend how so many would rather live in the shadow of death when they could be living in the light of God’s Good News. Most probable is that they do not comprehend the reality of the situation, and just how simply good the Gospel message is.
Isaiah 9:2 “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned”.
In the deep darkness and dawning light is a fantastic thing.
I’m currently at Tamworth and am earning the title of Niki the gadget queen. When there is a need for something I usually have it in my handbag. One of my obsessions is torches. I have two torches travelling with me and both have been used. It would be silly to have these lights and not use them.
Similarly it seems a pointless waste to be living in the land of deep darkness when we could be living in the light.
Matthew 4:16, 17 “16 the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.” 17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
The message that Jesus preached was the first part of the good news: the kingdom of heaven is near. The fullness of the good news was the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Jesus also informed the people that to be ready for this kingdom they needed to repent.
“Repent” is a word we hear in Christian circles and is associated with a feeling of regret, yet it is not an emotion, though emotions may accompany, but essentially repentance is an intellectual event. To repent means to “change your mind”… or turn around in your thinking. For example the human race thinks it has no need for God. At some point each human individual needs to rethink this situation. When we decide that we do need God it is called “Repentance”, because we’ve changed our mind. The thoughts and beliefs that we have then determine our actions and also impact on our emotions.
The scriptures tell us to be transformed by the renewing of our mind, the reason being, just as I’ve said, from our thoughts our actions and emotions flow. It isn’t an easy thing though and we don’t have to feel like a failure when we struggle as we have the example of the great psalmist and we see how he strives to put aside his fears:
Psalm 27:1-2, 4-5 “ 1 The LORD is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid? 4 One thing I ask from the LORD, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple. 5 For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock.”
The Psalmist states truth about God rescuing him and sets it to music, but we notice that in the song he includes his personal feelings and prayer that God will keep him safe… It is like the flip side of the coin. “Yes Lord, I believe, and know the truth about how you love me… but help my unbelief.”
Psalm 40:7-9 “7 Hear my voice when I call, LORD; be merciful to me and answer me. 8 My heart says of you, “Seek his face!” Your face, LORD, I will seek. 9 Do not hide your face from me, do not turn your servant away in anger; you have been my helper. Do not reject me or forsake me, God my Savior.”
In the epistles, the letters of the New Testament, we find the apostles striving to convey the truth about Jesus Christ to a Christian audience. These people had received the Gospel, the good news, but due to their error in their thinking some of their actions were completely wrong.
The error of the Corinthian church was not so different from the church today. Some were saying they belonged to Peter, and others were saying that they followed Paul, and still others were saying they belonged to Appollis. Similarly we will find an attitude of spiritual pride in the churches today where one will say, “I belong to the such and such Church…. You should come here to OUR church, because YOUR church doesn’t have the truth and ours does.”
We might say, “I follow tradition, tried and tested and true… so I am right and you are wrong”. We might say, “I follow contemporary worship… so I am right and you are wrong!” We could even say, “We don’t follow set readings and structure…. The Spirit of Jesus isn’t confined to structure”. All these things are both true and false. Although I’ve even heard things like, “You must speak in tongues to have the Holy Spirit and you are not a true Christians without it.”
St. Paul was very upset about this kind of thinking and I hate it too. It is arrogant and narrow minded.
1 Corinthians 1:13-18 “13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul? 14 I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so no one can say that you were baptized in my name. 16 (Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else.) 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. 18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”
What is it that we value in our churches? What qualities do we look for in our leaders? Is it abilities and reputation, or talent and artistic ability, good looks or charisma? I imagine that in our churches we would greatly value eloquence and wisdom…. Actually I would really like to have it while I’m writing these reflections…. But rather than write with poetic phrases and awesome analogies (which I really do appreciate) I’d rather write something that is powered by the Holy Spirit, enlightens the mind with truth and speaks straight to the heart.
King David was a small man, who was too young and unimpressive to be anointed, but he was the one that God chose. God is concerned about the heart and unfortunately for us this is not something that we can see on the outside, however, as I have said, from our beliefs our actions and emotions flow. Do we fully appreciate the genuine hearts in our community and are we working at having this attitude ourselves?
I have no doubt that St. Paul was capable of eloquent words, but his was striving to be simply true to the message of God and mission that he was given to preach the good news. He explained that the message seemed like foolishness. It certainly seems too good to be true. Do we understand what that message is?
The message seems foolish. We are sinners who constantly fail God and yet while we were still sinning and rejecting God he came into this world as one of us and suffered and died for us. How crazy is that??? Not only that, but the pre-requisite for receiving eternal life is not some hard initiation ceremony or a life of penitence and abstinence, but the pre-requisite is simply to repent and to believe in Jesus Christ. It is so simple and yet so many choose to live a life needlessly in the dark. So many are insulted when it is suggested that they are sinners, yet we are all sinners. It is a fact of humanity that we fail to be perfect and that is what sin means… to miss the mark of perfection.
1 Corinthians 1:18 “18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”
Monday, January 10, 2011
Reflection on readings Epiphany 2 year A 16 January 2011
Year A Epiphany 2 16 January 2011
Isaiah 49: 1-7 Psalm 40: 1-11 1 Corinthians 1: 1-9 John 1: 29-42
There is a call and there is a destiny!
John 1:42 Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter).
The name “Simon” means “reed” but Peter, or Cephas, means rock.
Jesus was definitely showing himself to be God.... he kept changing people’s names! Way back from the time of Abraham, God was recorded as changing people’s names. Each time a name change happened there was an accompanying promise. God gave a promise with each name change and with that change he declared the destiny that he had pre-destined for that person.
Isaiah never had a name change but his name already declared his prophetic message. Isaiah means “God is my Salvation”. God had revealed to Isaiah that God knew him and named him before he was born, so I guess, in that sense God did give Isaiah a name.
Isaiah 49:1-2 “ 1 Listen to me, you islands; hear this, you distant nations: Before I was born the LORD called me; from my mother’s womb he has spoken my name.”
Isaiah’s life was spent in bringing the message of God’s salvation, just as the meaning of his name declares, but Isaiah, like most of us felt the exhaustion of not seeing the fruits of his labour:
Isaiah 49:4 “4 But I said, “I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing at all.
Yet what is due me is in the LORD’s hand, and my reward is with my God.”
So often we may proclaim God’s message and not see any signs of acceptance. Our youth groups may not grow, our Bible studies have no regular attendees and our congregations may be small and dwindling, but we must not stop proclaiming God’s message – until He tells us to.
Many times it was declared that the prophet’s responsibility was to declare the message. If people heard the message the responsibility to respond was theirs. But if they didn’t hear the message, God held the prophets accountable for the life of those to whom they were sent. The Church is the prophet of God to the community around us.... and we are the Church... we are the body of Christ.
Isaiah also prophetically proclaims the ministry of Christ when he writes about the servant of God.
Isaiah 49: 6 ““It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”
The Gentiles are the non-Jews... I guess that would certainly include most of us... and certainly the message of God has reached to the ends of the earth. But who is it that God is calling to fulfil this call, to be a light to the nations, in the year 2011?
Psalm 40: 6 “ 6 Sacrifice and offering you did not desire— but my ears you have opened—
burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require. 7 Then I said, “Here I am, I have come— it is written about me in the scroll. 8 I desire to do your will, my God; your law is within my heart.”
We are called, not to do anything difficult, but simply to share what God has revealed to us. If God has opened our ears to hear His message then we have a responsibility to pass on the revelation of God.
This season is called the Epiphany. An epiphany is a revelation and a realization that Jesus is God. The wise men who worshiped the baby Jesus brought him gifts which signified this epiphany. Do you recall the words of the song? “Frankincense to offer have I, incense owns a deity neigh” - in other words, this gift declared Jesus as God. The Gold signified Jesus as King and the Myrrh declared that he would suffer and die for us – as myrrh is used for embalming.
John the Baptist declared the revelation or epiphany that he had of Jesus. John 1:29 -31 “ 29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.”
John realized that Jesus was more than mere man and he passed on this knowledge by proclaiming that although Jesus came after him, Jesus was before him, thus proclaiming his eternal being.... Jesus has always existed.
John also proclaims that Jesus is the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” In this John is revealing that Jesus will take away our sin, but also, that he would be sacrificed to enable this to happen. The “Lamb of God” was well understood by the people to whom John was speaking, as one of the regulations of their Passover festival was to have a lamb that was sacrificed to make restitution for sin. This was John’s equivalent of the wise men’s gift of myrrh with a whole lot more explanation.
John came baptizing so that Jesus might be revealed to Israel. This is an interesting statement that we seldom think about. John’s baptism was one of repentance. It seems that Israel needed to acknowledge her sin in order for Jesus to be revealed. It isn’t that Jesus wasn’t there, but that Israel could not see unless they were repentant. To be repentant means to acknowledge guilt and to humble ourselves before God. Is it the same for us and the community around us? Do we fail to hear God and see his hand because we and the community around us remain unrepentant?
John had followers who had been baptized. Therefore they were those who had acknowledged their human condition and recognised their need for a saviour. John was an amazing man because he recognised that his ministry was to point people to Jesus – and that meant he would diminish his own group of followers. Interesting thought... we can see that John was only concerned about passing on the truth of God and not about how many people were giving credence to his own ministry.
John’s followers took up the responsibility of sharing the revelation of God with others. Andrew shows the certainty of his revelation when he tells his brother about Jesus. He doesn’t tell him that he has found an inspiration speaker, a prophet or a good moral teacher; John 1:41 “41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). 42 And he brought him to Jesus.
And the rest, as they say, is history.... but it isn’t, it is actually destiny. We, as Christians are baptized into this same destiny. We have the revelation of Jesus and a responsibility to share what we know. The problem is our feelings of inadequacy, but we need to know that we have no reason for this, as God has given us every gift that we need.
1 Corinthians 1: 4-9 “4 I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. 5 For in him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge— 6 God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you. 7 Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 8 He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”
St. Paul was speaking to a very difficult community who seemed to be side-tracked in their mission by an over emphasis on the more showy of the spiritual gifts. Despite this he thanks God for the gifts that God has given them and assures them that they have everything they need to walk in the call of God. More than that, he assures them that God would keep them firm and blameless to the end.
The Corinthian Church suffered from something that is common to all of us and that is ignorance. St. Paul needed to remind them that God has given them everything that they need. The same goes for us. We have everything that we need to achieve that which God has called us to.
Last week I asked what burdens you might be carrying that are stopping you from walking in the call of God. This week my question is, “What is it that you think you need to enable you to walk in the call of God?” And then I would encourage you to read that passage from Corinthians, realizing that God has given us every spiritual gift that we need to achieve that which he has called us to do.
We don’t need the world class speakers to bring revival. We don’t need to hire an international team of talented artists so that people will come to hear the message. The only sacrifice that God requires is a heart that says, “Here I am, Lord, I come to do your will”.
Lord, fill us with your Holy Spirit and open our eyes to your truth. Make us see as you see and give us the strength to continue in your will when we don’t.
Isaiah 49: 1-7 Psalm 40: 1-11 1 Corinthians 1: 1-9 John 1: 29-42
There is a call and there is a destiny!
John 1:42 Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter).
The name “Simon” means “reed” but Peter, or Cephas, means rock.
Jesus was definitely showing himself to be God.... he kept changing people’s names! Way back from the time of Abraham, God was recorded as changing people’s names. Each time a name change happened there was an accompanying promise. God gave a promise with each name change and with that change he declared the destiny that he had pre-destined for that person.
Isaiah never had a name change but his name already declared his prophetic message. Isaiah means “God is my Salvation”. God had revealed to Isaiah that God knew him and named him before he was born, so I guess, in that sense God did give Isaiah a name.
Isaiah 49:1-2 “ 1 Listen to me, you islands; hear this, you distant nations: Before I was born the LORD called me; from my mother’s womb he has spoken my name.”
Isaiah’s life was spent in bringing the message of God’s salvation, just as the meaning of his name declares, but Isaiah, like most of us felt the exhaustion of not seeing the fruits of his labour:
Isaiah 49:4 “4 But I said, “I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing at all.
Yet what is due me is in the LORD’s hand, and my reward is with my God.”
So often we may proclaim God’s message and not see any signs of acceptance. Our youth groups may not grow, our Bible studies have no regular attendees and our congregations may be small and dwindling, but we must not stop proclaiming God’s message – until He tells us to.
Many times it was declared that the prophet’s responsibility was to declare the message. If people heard the message the responsibility to respond was theirs. But if they didn’t hear the message, God held the prophets accountable for the life of those to whom they were sent. The Church is the prophet of God to the community around us.... and we are the Church... we are the body of Christ.
Isaiah also prophetically proclaims the ministry of Christ when he writes about the servant of God.
Isaiah 49: 6 ““It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”
The Gentiles are the non-Jews... I guess that would certainly include most of us... and certainly the message of God has reached to the ends of the earth. But who is it that God is calling to fulfil this call, to be a light to the nations, in the year 2011?
Psalm 40: 6 “ 6 Sacrifice and offering you did not desire— but my ears you have opened—
burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require. 7 Then I said, “Here I am, I have come— it is written about me in the scroll. 8 I desire to do your will, my God; your law is within my heart.”
We are called, not to do anything difficult, but simply to share what God has revealed to us. If God has opened our ears to hear His message then we have a responsibility to pass on the revelation of God.
This season is called the Epiphany. An epiphany is a revelation and a realization that Jesus is God. The wise men who worshiped the baby Jesus brought him gifts which signified this epiphany. Do you recall the words of the song? “Frankincense to offer have I, incense owns a deity neigh” - in other words, this gift declared Jesus as God. The Gold signified Jesus as King and the Myrrh declared that he would suffer and die for us – as myrrh is used for embalming.
John the Baptist declared the revelation or epiphany that he had of Jesus. John 1:29 -31 “ 29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.”
John realized that Jesus was more than mere man and he passed on this knowledge by proclaiming that although Jesus came after him, Jesus was before him, thus proclaiming his eternal being.... Jesus has always existed.
John also proclaims that Jesus is the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” In this John is revealing that Jesus will take away our sin, but also, that he would be sacrificed to enable this to happen. The “Lamb of God” was well understood by the people to whom John was speaking, as one of the regulations of their Passover festival was to have a lamb that was sacrificed to make restitution for sin. This was John’s equivalent of the wise men’s gift of myrrh with a whole lot more explanation.
John came baptizing so that Jesus might be revealed to Israel. This is an interesting statement that we seldom think about. John’s baptism was one of repentance. It seems that Israel needed to acknowledge her sin in order for Jesus to be revealed. It isn’t that Jesus wasn’t there, but that Israel could not see unless they were repentant. To be repentant means to acknowledge guilt and to humble ourselves before God. Is it the same for us and the community around us? Do we fail to hear God and see his hand because we and the community around us remain unrepentant?
John had followers who had been baptized. Therefore they were those who had acknowledged their human condition and recognised their need for a saviour. John was an amazing man because he recognised that his ministry was to point people to Jesus – and that meant he would diminish his own group of followers. Interesting thought... we can see that John was only concerned about passing on the truth of God and not about how many people were giving credence to his own ministry.
John’s followers took up the responsibility of sharing the revelation of God with others. Andrew shows the certainty of his revelation when he tells his brother about Jesus. He doesn’t tell him that he has found an inspiration speaker, a prophet or a good moral teacher; John 1:41 “41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). 42 And he brought him to Jesus.
And the rest, as they say, is history.... but it isn’t, it is actually destiny. We, as Christians are baptized into this same destiny. We have the revelation of Jesus and a responsibility to share what we know. The problem is our feelings of inadequacy, but we need to know that we have no reason for this, as God has given us every gift that we need.
1 Corinthians 1: 4-9 “4 I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. 5 For in him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge— 6 God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you. 7 Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 8 He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”
St. Paul was speaking to a very difficult community who seemed to be side-tracked in their mission by an over emphasis on the more showy of the spiritual gifts. Despite this he thanks God for the gifts that God has given them and assures them that they have everything they need to walk in the call of God. More than that, he assures them that God would keep them firm and blameless to the end.
The Corinthian Church suffered from something that is common to all of us and that is ignorance. St. Paul needed to remind them that God has given them everything that they need. The same goes for us. We have everything that we need to achieve that which God has called us to.
Last week I asked what burdens you might be carrying that are stopping you from walking in the call of God. This week my question is, “What is it that you think you need to enable you to walk in the call of God?” And then I would encourage you to read that passage from Corinthians, realizing that God has given us every spiritual gift that we need to achieve that which he has called us to do.
We don’t need the world class speakers to bring revival. We don’t need to hire an international team of talented artists so that people will come to hear the message. The only sacrifice that God requires is a heart that says, “Here I am, Lord, I come to do your will”.
Lord, fill us with your Holy Spirit and open our eyes to your truth. Make us see as you see and give us the strength to continue in your will when we don’t.
Monday, January 3, 2011
reflecion on readings 9th January 2011 Baptism of our Lord
Year A Baptism of the Lord 9 January 2011
Isaiah 42: 1-9 Psalm 29 Acts 10: 34-43 Matthew 3: 13-17
Isaiah 42:6-7 “6 “I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, 7 to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.”
We, as Church, can take these words from Isaiah as our call from God. We are called in righteousness by Him to be a covenant and a light, bringing the promise of God to the people in our community. It is our call to reveal the Good News of God and in so doing, open the eyes of the blind. It is our call to free the captives from the prison of darkness, despair and meaninglessness. But....... What is it that is holding us captive?
When I look around at the lives of Christian people around me, it seems that many of us are crippled in our mission and God given call. We are crippled by hurt and ignorance, and also by our actions or the judgment of our actions, whether deserved or not. Hurt is inevitable as a fact of life on planet earth, but due to that hurt we often shut ourselves away from the truth of God’s love. Truly, in the searchlight of God’s truth we might discover some of the burdens we are carrying which are keeping us captive.... things that God wants us to let go of as we discover the truth that He reveals to us.
I have had an experience of this myself recently. I was hurt by something that was said to me, but as I thought about the facts I realized the statement wasn’t actually hurtful at all, but instead it was simply the shadow of old judgements based on gossip and the way I felt judged that was making me feel so hurt. I was carrying a false sense of guilt... guilt that I knew wasn’t mine, but guilt that I believed others held me in judgement.
The truth that set me free was realizing that the guilt is not mine. God knows the truth and other opinions didn’t matter. Though they have actually been bad enough to hinder my job prospects and even my perceived ministry....
Knowing my relationship with God was secure made the difference and allowed me to let go of the burden imprisoning me. And yes this is easier said than done, and probably one of those many miracles that God does in the year2011. If he does this for me, you can know He is keen to do it for you too.
I have also been reflecting on how so many vibrant and gifted people in ministry have left ministry due to “false guilt” and other burdens that imprison us. How many of us who have the gift of God’s revelation, have been blinded and imprisoned in the darkness of hurt and lies about God’s rejection?
And then this brings to mind another issue: We all know the many stories of priests and ministers being taken to court for “inappropriate” behaviour, most commonly for sexual abuse, but I would ask you to think about the news we hear about footballers accused in the same way. Some of the footballers we would easily accept as being guilty but there have been plenty who claimed their innocence.... and many who have been victims of the injustice of a lie. Is it possible that this is the case with some of those ministers also?
I had an experience many years ago, where I rolled my car and was charged with driving without due care and attention. I was in 2nd gear, just leaving the carpark with 4 girls who had been at a youth convention. The windscreen quickly fogged and I couldn’t see. I thought I was pulling over to the side but, as I found out, there was no side but a drain. There were no signs or guide posts, just a slight raised edge. I was told by my solicitor that I had to plead guilty. It felt wrong, as I didn’t do anything without care yet had to plead that I did. From what I’ve heard in a few other cases this “pleading guilty” happens quite a bit with others who are also not guilty.
On a Church level we have been crippled by these things whether they’ve been correct judgments or not. What we are missing is the Good News of God’s grace, and also God’s perspective and wisdom.
Jesus was an unlikely candidate for ministry. He appeared to be the son of a woman of questionable character.... after all, she was found to be pregnant with him before her nuptials had been completed. I’ve no doubt that there was plenty of gossip about Jesus. Jesus did not follow any of the accepted protocol for religious behaviour. He didn’t concern himself with the ceremonial washing and constantly broke the commandment about keeping holy the Sabbath day.... or so it seemed. And that is my point. Many things are not as they seem.
Jesus was both fully God and fully human. How do we get our heads around this? As I’ve said previously, I like to parallel this with the movie Superman II. Superman gives up his power and becomes like a normal human – all for the love of Lois Lane. Jesus did the same.
In Jesus giving up his “God” power to become human, means that he was JUST like us. Just like us in every way, except that he did not sin. Even more important is what this means for us as Christians in our lives. You see, this week we read about the Baptism of Jesus. Something very important happened at his baptism:
Matthew 3: 16-17 “16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
The Spirit of God descended to Jesus. After this we see Jesus move into ministry with power.... what power? Remember I just said that, like Superman, Jesus gave up his “God” power.... So the power that Jesus had was the power of the Holy Spirit which came on him – him being a fully human man. The implication is that Jesus lived the life that we too can live. We too have the Holy Spirit. Even more we live in the fulfilment of the promise of God and Jesus intercedes for us. What I’m implying is that we should be living a life that is a lot more empowered and connected to God than the one we are living.
Acts 10: 38 “38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him. “
Every now and then I get on my soap box about how we should be relying more on the power of the Holy Spirit. I’m still trying to figure this out myself, but I do really believe that we are not properly utilizing the gift that God has given.
Many times in our church and corporate prayer we insert structure and formula along with a big dash of creative razzle dazzle, such that we don’t actually need the Holy Spirit. Not that there is anything wrong with using structure, formula and creativity. These are God given gifts, but the focus of our efforts needs to be directed and informed by the Spirit of God.
Many years ago I was sent to the Catholic National Liturgical Convention in Melbourne. There were many interesting electives teaching us on different aspects of liturgy. Each day began with everyone together and some kind of prayer service and keynote speaker address.
Over the course of the week I became increasingly disillusioned. There were hymn writers telling us that there was nothing real and everything was subjective and that their songs were full of imagery that could mean absolutely anything. There were song leaders teaching us complicated choral pieces.... (ps – this is a bad thing because people should feel like they are fully participating). All in all I was very disheartened and concerned about the lack of “God” focus in it all.
The final day of the convention the prayer service was run by a drama group. They performed by proclaiming disjointed scripture quotes. None of it connected or pointing to anything - none of it revealing God’s truth and good news. There were many, many candles.... the only bit that made sense. The candles were to symbolize us and then the Pascal candle was the symbol of Christ. When the service was over and the key note speaker came on the candles were extinguished.... but the Christ candle would not go out. No matter what they did that candle stayed lit. Eventually they gave up and left it lit throughout the speaker’s address. It spoke volumes to me and reminds me of the scripture in this week’s readings:
Isaiah 42: “ 1 “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight;
I will put my Spirit on him, and he will bring justice to the nations.2 He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. 3 A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.”
Isaiah speaks prophetically about Christ. The life of Jesus was not one of a naturally charismatic leader with a squeaky clean background. Isaiah also speaks prophetically about the light of Christ in the church. After the crucifixion, resurrection and then the day of Pentecost, right through to today, the church has had many occasions of being like a bruised reed and a smoldering wick. It seems very much that way now.
Most importantly, Isaiah speaks prophetically a message of encouragement to us personally. We are bruised and battered. We feel that our light is smoldering rather than shining brightly, but God lets us know that the light of Christ in us, just like at the convention, will not snuff out.
We have been given a gift of the light of Christ and have a responsibility to proclaim it: Acts 10: 42“He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. 43 All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
What is stopping us from fulfilling our God given call?
Sometimes it is our inability to forgive others and sometimes our inability to forgive ourselves. We really need to understand God’s grace and love to combat these attacks of Satan which are imprisoning us, and be set free. Did you read the last line of that last quote? “everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
When Jesus died on the cross for our sins were they in the past or the future? The future of course! When we believe and accept the sacrifice of Jesus we need to know that even our future sins are forgiven. Forgive yourself. We need to realize that others are also loved and forgiven when they believe and accept the sacrifice of Jesus – both future and past sins. (Note forgiveness and trust are two different things!)
Whatever it is that is stopping us from our call into ministry we need to give it to God. And when I say “Our call into ministry”, I do mean all of us. We are all called to proclaim the truth that God has revealed to us. For each of us that will take a different form. Ordained by God and anointed by His Holy Spirit to be His witness, if you have that sense deep within you that you are not in the place God wants then it is time to step forward.... and God Himself will give us strength.
Psalm 29 :8-11 “8 The voice of the LORD shakes the desert; the LORD shakes the Desert of Kadesh. 9 The voice of the LORD twists the oaks and strips the forests bare. And in his temple all cry, “Glory!” 10 The LORD sits enthroned over the flood; the LORD is enthroned as King forever. 11 The LORD gives strength to his people; the LORD blesses his people with peace.”
Isaiah 42: 1-9 Psalm 29 Acts 10: 34-43 Matthew 3: 13-17
Isaiah 42:6-7 “6 “I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, 7 to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.”
We, as Church, can take these words from Isaiah as our call from God. We are called in righteousness by Him to be a covenant and a light, bringing the promise of God to the people in our community. It is our call to reveal the Good News of God and in so doing, open the eyes of the blind. It is our call to free the captives from the prison of darkness, despair and meaninglessness. But....... What is it that is holding us captive?
When I look around at the lives of Christian people around me, it seems that many of us are crippled in our mission and God given call. We are crippled by hurt and ignorance, and also by our actions or the judgment of our actions, whether deserved or not. Hurt is inevitable as a fact of life on planet earth, but due to that hurt we often shut ourselves away from the truth of God’s love. Truly, in the searchlight of God’s truth we might discover some of the burdens we are carrying which are keeping us captive.... things that God wants us to let go of as we discover the truth that He reveals to us.
I have had an experience of this myself recently. I was hurt by something that was said to me, but as I thought about the facts I realized the statement wasn’t actually hurtful at all, but instead it was simply the shadow of old judgements based on gossip and the way I felt judged that was making me feel so hurt. I was carrying a false sense of guilt... guilt that I knew wasn’t mine, but guilt that I believed others held me in judgement.
The truth that set me free was realizing that the guilt is not mine. God knows the truth and other opinions didn’t matter. Though they have actually been bad enough to hinder my job prospects and even my perceived ministry....
Knowing my relationship with God was secure made the difference and allowed me to let go of the burden imprisoning me. And yes this is easier said than done, and probably one of those many miracles that God does in the year2011. If he does this for me, you can know He is keen to do it for you too.
I have also been reflecting on how so many vibrant and gifted people in ministry have left ministry due to “false guilt” and other burdens that imprison us. How many of us who have the gift of God’s revelation, have been blinded and imprisoned in the darkness of hurt and lies about God’s rejection?
And then this brings to mind another issue: We all know the many stories of priests and ministers being taken to court for “inappropriate” behaviour, most commonly for sexual abuse, but I would ask you to think about the news we hear about footballers accused in the same way. Some of the footballers we would easily accept as being guilty but there have been plenty who claimed their innocence.... and many who have been victims of the injustice of a lie. Is it possible that this is the case with some of those ministers also?
I had an experience many years ago, where I rolled my car and was charged with driving without due care and attention. I was in 2nd gear, just leaving the carpark with 4 girls who had been at a youth convention. The windscreen quickly fogged and I couldn’t see. I thought I was pulling over to the side but, as I found out, there was no side but a drain. There were no signs or guide posts, just a slight raised edge. I was told by my solicitor that I had to plead guilty. It felt wrong, as I didn’t do anything without care yet had to plead that I did. From what I’ve heard in a few other cases this “pleading guilty” happens quite a bit with others who are also not guilty.
On a Church level we have been crippled by these things whether they’ve been correct judgments or not. What we are missing is the Good News of God’s grace, and also God’s perspective and wisdom.
Jesus was an unlikely candidate for ministry. He appeared to be the son of a woman of questionable character.... after all, she was found to be pregnant with him before her nuptials had been completed. I’ve no doubt that there was plenty of gossip about Jesus. Jesus did not follow any of the accepted protocol for religious behaviour. He didn’t concern himself with the ceremonial washing and constantly broke the commandment about keeping holy the Sabbath day.... or so it seemed. And that is my point. Many things are not as they seem.
Jesus was both fully God and fully human. How do we get our heads around this? As I’ve said previously, I like to parallel this with the movie Superman II. Superman gives up his power and becomes like a normal human – all for the love of Lois Lane. Jesus did the same.
In Jesus giving up his “God” power to become human, means that he was JUST like us. Just like us in every way, except that he did not sin. Even more important is what this means for us as Christians in our lives. You see, this week we read about the Baptism of Jesus. Something very important happened at his baptism:
Matthew 3: 16-17 “16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
The Spirit of God descended to Jesus. After this we see Jesus move into ministry with power.... what power? Remember I just said that, like Superman, Jesus gave up his “God” power.... So the power that Jesus had was the power of the Holy Spirit which came on him – him being a fully human man. The implication is that Jesus lived the life that we too can live. We too have the Holy Spirit. Even more we live in the fulfilment of the promise of God and Jesus intercedes for us. What I’m implying is that we should be living a life that is a lot more empowered and connected to God than the one we are living.
Acts 10: 38 “38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him. “
Every now and then I get on my soap box about how we should be relying more on the power of the Holy Spirit. I’m still trying to figure this out myself, but I do really believe that we are not properly utilizing the gift that God has given.
Many times in our church and corporate prayer we insert structure and formula along with a big dash of creative razzle dazzle, such that we don’t actually need the Holy Spirit. Not that there is anything wrong with using structure, formula and creativity. These are God given gifts, but the focus of our efforts needs to be directed and informed by the Spirit of God.
Many years ago I was sent to the Catholic National Liturgical Convention in Melbourne. There were many interesting electives teaching us on different aspects of liturgy. Each day began with everyone together and some kind of prayer service and keynote speaker address.
Over the course of the week I became increasingly disillusioned. There were hymn writers telling us that there was nothing real and everything was subjective and that their songs were full of imagery that could mean absolutely anything. There were song leaders teaching us complicated choral pieces.... (ps – this is a bad thing because people should feel like they are fully participating). All in all I was very disheartened and concerned about the lack of “God” focus in it all.
The final day of the convention the prayer service was run by a drama group. They performed by proclaiming disjointed scripture quotes. None of it connected or pointing to anything - none of it revealing God’s truth and good news. There were many, many candles.... the only bit that made sense. The candles were to symbolize us and then the Pascal candle was the symbol of Christ. When the service was over and the key note speaker came on the candles were extinguished.... but the Christ candle would not go out. No matter what they did that candle stayed lit. Eventually they gave up and left it lit throughout the speaker’s address. It spoke volumes to me and reminds me of the scripture in this week’s readings:
Isaiah 42: “ 1 “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight;
I will put my Spirit on him, and he will bring justice to the nations.2 He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. 3 A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.”
Isaiah speaks prophetically about Christ. The life of Jesus was not one of a naturally charismatic leader with a squeaky clean background. Isaiah also speaks prophetically about the light of Christ in the church. After the crucifixion, resurrection and then the day of Pentecost, right through to today, the church has had many occasions of being like a bruised reed and a smoldering wick. It seems very much that way now.
Most importantly, Isaiah speaks prophetically a message of encouragement to us personally. We are bruised and battered. We feel that our light is smoldering rather than shining brightly, but God lets us know that the light of Christ in us, just like at the convention, will not snuff out.
We have been given a gift of the light of Christ and have a responsibility to proclaim it: Acts 10: 42“He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. 43 All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
What is stopping us from fulfilling our God given call?
Sometimes it is our inability to forgive others and sometimes our inability to forgive ourselves. We really need to understand God’s grace and love to combat these attacks of Satan which are imprisoning us, and be set free. Did you read the last line of that last quote? “everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
When Jesus died on the cross for our sins were they in the past or the future? The future of course! When we believe and accept the sacrifice of Jesus we need to know that even our future sins are forgiven. Forgive yourself. We need to realize that others are also loved and forgiven when they believe and accept the sacrifice of Jesus – both future and past sins. (Note forgiveness and trust are two different things!)
Whatever it is that is stopping us from our call into ministry we need to give it to God. And when I say “Our call into ministry”, I do mean all of us. We are all called to proclaim the truth that God has revealed to us. For each of us that will take a different form. Ordained by God and anointed by His Holy Spirit to be His witness, if you have that sense deep within you that you are not in the place God wants then it is time to step forward.... and God Himself will give us strength.
Psalm 29 :8-11 “8 The voice of the LORD shakes the desert; the LORD shakes the Desert of Kadesh. 9 The voice of the LORD twists the oaks and strips the forests bare. And in his temple all cry, “Glory!” 10 The LORD sits enthroned over the flood; the LORD is enthroned as King forever. 11 The LORD gives strength to his people; the LORD blesses his people with peace.”
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Reflection on readings for 2nd January 2011
2nd Sunday after the Nativity 2 January 2011
Jeremiah 31:7-14 Psalm 147: 12-20 Ephesians 1: 3-14 John 1: (1-9), 10-18
John 1:1-5 “1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
This is one of my favourite passages as it very poetically speaks about the “Word” as a mysterious entity which, although spoken of as the word, obviously is way more than thoughts spoken aloud. This “Word” is not just God speaking, but we are shown this entity has attributes and power. This entity, the “Word” was there in the beginning and with God. More than that, this entity IS God! It is through this entity that all things were made. Although this entity existed for all time we now know him by his name; Jesus.
This reminds me of a part in the movie “The Dawn Treader” from the Narnia Chronicles. Aslan, the lion, speaks to the children about going back to their home and says that when they are back in their world he will be watching them, he’ll be there, but they will need to learn to know him by his other name. The “Word” was known to the ancient Israelites as personally... when you read the Old Testament you get the impression that the “Word” is more of a personal relationship with God rather than a written or spoken word. In the New Testament the people needed to know the “Word” by his other name, “Jesus”.
It is difficult to comprehend that Jesus, that historical figure, written about by Jewish historians and proclaimed in the scriptures, who walked this earth, was there at the beginning of creation and is both with God and IS God. But he IS!
And now we get to the frustrating part. Have you ever known something to be true but unable to convince anyone? Well, Jesus came but his people didn’t recognise him. The God of the Israelites came in human form and not only did most reject him but they crucified him.
John 1:9-13 “ 9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”
And now we get to the good news. We who recognise the fullness of who Jesus is, are given the privilege of becoming Children of God. Really, this is a pretty big deal and a huge honour and gift. We the created beings who constantly go our own way are given the privilege of becoming God’s child simply by recognising the truth that Jesus is God... and then, by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, we have the price of our sin paid for. One of the words used to explain what Jesus did for us on the cross is “redemption”. Our sins cause us to have a price on our heads... and the price for sin is death.
Death! Yes... not just in this life, but also the second death which is spoken of in the book of Revelation. It is one of those unpopular things that we don’t like to talk about but in the year 2011 I believe we need to stand face to face with the truth whether it makes us uncomfortable or not and realize that this is serious stuff. If we die in this life as Christians, redeemed by God and indwelt by the Holy Spirit, then we needn’t fear the second death. This is not a subject to take lightly and when we realize the fullness of God’s gift to us we can be so grateful, because through the sacrifice of Jesus we have been redeemed –or purchased, for a price and now our lives are safe in him.
Ephesians 1:7-10 “7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8 that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, 9 he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.”
I believe that most of us, including myself, do not have a proper grasp on the big picture that God has. We look at the here and now and worry about mountain which God knows as an anthill. In this life we have hardships and sorrows and because the “Word” became flesh, we know that he understands and cares about our concerns, but we can have comfort that goes beyond understanding when we understand the promises and the gift of God.
Jeremiah 31:11-14 “11 For the LORD will deliver Jacob and redeem them from the hand of those stronger than they. 12 They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion; they will rejoice in the bounty of the LORD— the grain, the new wine and the olive oil,
the young of the flocks and herds. They will be like a well-watered garden, and they will sorrow no more. 13 Then young women will dance and be glad, young men and old as well.
I will turn their mourning into gladness; I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow.14 I will satisfy the priests with abundance, and my people will be filled with my bounty,” declares the LORD.”
We are the children of God and, like any father, He cares for our concerns and we are precious to Him. More than that God has known us before the creation of the world and he chose us. How amazing is that??!! Back when the “Word” was there creating in the beginning, we were in the mind of God and Chosen.
Ephesians 1:3-5 “3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will.”
This gives us just a glimpse into who we really are. Just as we often fail to see the bigger picture of God’s plan and promises, we also often fail to realise the enormity of our identity in Christ. I often get a bit irritated when people want to run “self-image” classes to help people, when a class on our identity in Christ would give a much truer and more amazing sense of purpose and direction.
John’s Gospel tells us that Jesus is the “Light”. When we are in the light we can see things as they really as. We can see who Jesus really is and we can see who we really are. This is at once comforting and frightening.
I can remember swimming at a place called Marian falls and when I went under the water I kept my eyes closed. The reason was that I might be scared by what I saw. I was swimming and in the water – but didn’t want to see what I was swimming with. I preferred to be “in the dark” rather than know the truth. How senselessly foolish! Many people are like this about life.
We read in John’s Gospel that Jesus was rejected. It would seem that Jesus is still rejected and often for the same reason as me swimming at Marian falls.... People prefer to be in relatively comfortable ignorance rather than face the truth about life and death and the spiritual and physical world. It is like the song “One of us”, which asks the question “What if God was one of us.... and would you want to see, if seeing meant that you would have to believe....”.
When we consciously begin to think about the reality of this, hopefully we realize the foolishness. This world and the spiritual world is a reality which we are “swimming in”. We can close our eyes, but it will not change the reality and the consequences.
In the light of Christ we will find the frightening truth that we are sinners and what the consequence for that sin is, but we need to be assured of the amazing Good News of the promise of God. Assured of God’s love we need to walk in the light of Christ, our lives as an open book before the searchlight of God, acknowledging our need for a saviour, and as a child of God receive the redemption of Jesus Christ.
Jeremiah 31:7-14 Psalm 147: 12-20 Ephesians 1: 3-14 John 1: (1-9), 10-18
John 1:1-5 “1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
This is one of my favourite passages as it very poetically speaks about the “Word” as a mysterious entity which, although spoken of as the word, obviously is way more than thoughts spoken aloud. This “Word” is not just God speaking, but we are shown this entity has attributes and power. This entity, the “Word” was there in the beginning and with God. More than that, this entity IS God! It is through this entity that all things were made. Although this entity existed for all time we now know him by his name; Jesus.
This reminds me of a part in the movie “The Dawn Treader” from the Narnia Chronicles. Aslan, the lion, speaks to the children about going back to their home and says that when they are back in their world he will be watching them, he’ll be there, but they will need to learn to know him by his other name. The “Word” was known to the ancient Israelites as personally... when you read the Old Testament you get the impression that the “Word” is more of a personal relationship with God rather than a written or spoken word. In the New Testament the people needed to know the “Word” by his other name, “Jesus”.
It is difficult to comprehend that Jesus, that historical figure, written about by Jewish historians and proclaimed in the scriptures, who walked this earth, was there at the beginning of creation and is both with God and IS God. But he IS!
And now we get to the frustrating part. Have you ever known something to be true but unable to convince anyone? Well, Jesus came but his people didn’t recognise him. The God of the Israelites came in human form and not only did most reject him but they crucified him.
John 1:9-13 “ 9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”
And now we get to the good news. We who recognise the fullness of who Jesus is, are given the privilege of becoming Children of God. Really, this is a pretty big deal and a huge honour and gift. We the created beings who constantly go our own way are given the privilege of becoming God’s child simply by recognising the truth that Jesus is God... and then, by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, we have the price of our sin paid for. One of the words used to explain what Jesus did for us on the cross is “redemption”. Our sins cause us to have a price on our heads... and the price for sin is death.
Death! Yes... not just in this life, but also the second death which is spoken of in the book of Revelation. It is one of those unpopular things that we don’t like to talk about but in the year 2011 I believe we need to stand face to face with the truth whether it makes us uncomfortable or not and realize that this is serious stuff. If we die in this life as Christians, redeemed by God and indwelt by the Holy Spirit, then we needn’t fear the second death. This is not a subject to take lightly and when we realize the fullness of God’s gift to us we can be so grateful, because through the sacrifice of Jesus we have been redeemed –or purchased, for a price and now our lives are safe in him.
Ephesians 1:7-10 “7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8 that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, 9 he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.”
I believe that most of us, including myself, do not have a proper grasp on the big picture that God has. We look at the here and now and worry about mountain which God knows as an anthill. In this life we have hardships and sorrows and because the “Word” became flesh, we know that he understands and cares about our concerns, but we can have comfort that goes beyond understanding when we understand the promises and the gift of God.
Jeremiah 31:11-14 “11 For the LORD will deliver Jacob and redeem them from the hand of those stronger than they. 12 They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion; they will rejoice in the bounty of the LORD— the grain, the new wine and the olive oil,
the young of the flocks and herds. They will be like a well-watered garden, and they will sorrow no more. 13 Then young women will dance and be glad, young men and old as well.
I will turn their mourning into gladness; I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow.14 I will satisfy the priests with abundance, and my people will be filled with my bounty,” declares the LORD.”
We are the children of God and, like any father, He cares for our concerns and we are precious to Him. More than that God has known us before the creation of the world and he chose us. How amazing is that??!! Back when the “Word” was there creating in the beginning, we were in the mind of God and Chosen.
Ephesians 1:3-5 “3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will.”
This gives us just a glimpse into who we really are. Just as we often fail to see the bigger picture of God’s plan and promises, we also often fail to realise the enormity of our identity in Christ. I often get a bit irritated when people want to run “self-image” classes to help people, when a class on our identity in Christ would give a much truer and more amazing sense of purpose and direction.
John’s Gospel tells us that Jesus is the “Light”. When we are in the light we can see things as they really as. We can see who Jesus really is and we can see who we really are. This is at once comforting and frightening.
I can remember swimming at a place called Marian falls and when I went under the water I kept my eyes closed. The reason was that I might be scared by what I saw. I was swimming and in the water – but didn’t want to see what I was swimming with. I preferred to be “in the dark” rather than know the truth. How senselessly foolish! Many people are like this about life.
We read in John’s Gospel that Jesus was rejected. It would seem that Jesus is still rejected and often for the same reason as me swimming at Marian falls.... People prefer to be in relatively comfortable ignorance rather than face the truth about life and death and the spiritual and physical world. It is like the song “One of us”, which asks the question “What if God was one of us.... and would you want to see, if seeing meant that you would have to believe....”.
When we consciously begin to think about the reality of this, hopefully we realize the foolishness. This world and the spiritual world is a reality which we are “swimming in”. We can close our eyes, but it will not change the reality and the consequences.
In the light of Christ we will find the frightening truth that we are sinners and what the consequence for that sin is, but we need to be assured of the amazing Good News of the promise of God. Assured of God’s love we need to walk in the light of Christ, our lives as an open book before the searchlight of God, acknowledging our need for a saviour, and as a child of God receive the redemption of Jesus Christ.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Reflections on Readings 26th December 2010
Year A First Sunday after the Nativity 26 December 2010
Isaiah 63: 7-9 Psalm 148 Hebrews 2: 10-18 Matthew 2: 13-23
Life on planet Earth is not easy. God coming to us in human flesh, Jesus, reminds me of the Superman II movie. In this episode, in order for Superman to be united in love with Lois Lane, he gives up his super powers and becomes like a normal human being – able to be hurt and vulnerable. At Christmas we celebrate that God did the same out of love for us, but we seldom realize the magnitude of that act and the part that human obedience played.
Hebrews 2:10 “ In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered.”
The suffering of Jesus started right from the time he was born... actually even before that. Mary could well have been stoned to death for being pregnant- and her unborn child killed along with her. The path that God took was completely fraught with danger at every turn. We read in the Gospel that Herod tried to kill him and although Jesus was saved - only through the obedience of Joseph, many others were killed by Herod.
Matthew 2:16-18 “ When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”
Great joy is expressed in the Christmas message about the fulfilment of the promise of God, but parallel to that great joy and accompanying it is incredible stress.
I have occasionally heard people say, “Come Lord Jesus!” What they mean is that they are eagerly awaiting the second coming of Christ. Christ will come again, but just as the contemporaries of Jesus time misunderstood God’s ways then, I expect many Christians will misunderstand the plans of God when he comes again. Those who are so eager for Christ’s return are often those who are finding life on planet Earth way too difficult and want a way out. From what I read and if the message of this week’s readings are to teach us anything, it is that the way of the wonderful promises of God always have been, and always will be, fraught with danger.
We need to look closely at the example of Joseph and Mary in order to learn how to co-operate with promises of God. Danger was always present and with it was great stress, but when they listened to and trusted in God, God’s plan and purpose was fulfilled.
Matthew 2:13-15 “ ... an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”
So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.””
It is interesting that for us to be saved – to become a Christian, we need to believe God and to trust him and give our lives to him. Likewise, to walk in his promises, we have the same guidelines – Trust in God completely and give our lives into his hands.
We can not escape our troubles by praying for Christ’s return. It is certain that for many who become Christians, that is when their troubles begin – think of those early Christians fed to the lions – think of St. Paul, a respected Pharisee of high standing in the community – after becoming a Christian he was whipped, stoned, imprisoned, ship wrecked, etc......
After knowing all this I’m sure many wonder why anyone would become a Christian. Why would Mary, a young virgin say yes to God about being the mother of Jesus – knowing that by law she could be stoned to death because who would believe that this child was by God....????? They were obedient to God because they knew God. These people knew the love and mercy of God. They trusted God because they knew his way was the way of Good News and the troubles that they would experience would be entrusted to Him to take care of and He would carry them through.
We experience troubles and, if you are like me, you grumble at God and complain that He doesn’t really care about you. We know from scripture though that this is not true. We know what God is like because Jesus shows us clearly His mercy and love. When we feel that God is removed from our sorrows we can know that it isn’t true. Even the Old Testament reading clearly explains how God feels our distress;
Isaiah 63:8,9 “8 He said, “Surely they are my people, children who will be true to me”; and so he became their Savior.9 In all their distress he too was distressed, and the angel of his presence saved them. In his love and mercy he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.”
Note that we are not likely to be free from distress, but that God feels this with us and along with saving and redeeming us, he will carry us through. We also know that He understands our sufferings because in Jesus He became fully human and experienced suffering:
Hebrews 2:14- 18 “ 14 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— 15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. 16 For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. 17 For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. 18 Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.”
At the end of the Superman movie Superman has to take back his super powers for the greater good. Lois Lane is left confused and hurt. Many of us live in the same confusion and hurt. We are Christians and proclaim the Good news, yet life’s experiences leave us battle weary, confused and hurt. Jesus has risen (taken back his super powers), and for the time being his Kingdom is not yet on Earth as it is in Heaven. We, like Lois Lane in the movie, do not have the whole story. All we can do is to grow in our relationship with God such that we can fully trust him.
Troubles on planet Earth are a certainty. For those who love God, all things will eventually work for Good.... Following God and walking in the path of His promise is no exception to a life of trouble and danger but know that God feels our every distress and so trust in him fully – he will save us and carry us through.
Isaiah 63: 7-9 Psalm 148 Hebrews 2: 10-18 Matthew 2: 13-23
Life on planet Earth is not easy. God coming to us in human flesh, Jesus, reminds me of the Superman II movie. In this episode, in order for Superman to be united in love with Lois Lane, he gives up his super powers and becomes like a normal human being – able to be hurt and vulnerable. At Christmas we celebrate that God did the same out of love for us, but we seldom realize the magnitude of that act and the part that human obedience played.
Hebrews 2:10 “ In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered.”
The suffering of Jesus started right from the time he was born... actually even before that. Mary could well have been stoned to death for being pregnant- and her unborn child killed along with her. The path that God took was completely fraught with danger at every turn. We read in the Gospel that Herod tried to kill him and although Jesus was saved - only through the obedience of Joseph, many others were killed by Herod.
Matthew 2:16-18 “ When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”
Great joy is expressed in the Christmas message about the fulfilment of the promise of God, but parallel to that great joy and accompanying it is incredible stress.
I have occasionally heard people say, “Come Lord Jesus!” What they mean is that they are eagerly awaiting the second coming of Christ. Christ will come again, but just as the contemporaries of Jesus time misunderstood God’s ways then, I expect many Christians will misunderstand the plans of God when he comes again. Those who are so eager for Christ’s return are often those who are finding life on planet Earth way too difficult and want a way out. From what I read and if the message of this week’s readings are to teach us anything, it is that the way of the wonderful promises of God always have been, and always will be, fraught with danger.
We need to look closely at the example of Joseph and Mary in order to learn how to co-operate with promises of God. Danger was always present and with it was great stress, but when they listened to and trusted in God, God’s plan and purpose was fulfilled.
Matthew 2:13-15 “ ... an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”
So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.””
It is interesting that for us to be saved – to become a Christian, we need to believe God and to trust him and give our lives to him. Likewise, to walk in his promises, we have the same guidelines – Trust in God completely and give our lives into his hands.
We can not escape our troubles by praying for Christ’s return. It is certain that for many who become Christians, that is when their troubles begin – think of those early Christians fed to the lions – think of St. Paul, a respected Pharisee of high standing in the community – after becoming a Christian he was whipped, stoned, imprisoned, ship wrecked, etc......
After knowing all this I’m sure many wonder why anyone would become a Christian. Why would Mary, a young virgin say yes to God about being the mother of Jesus – knowing that by law she could be stoned to death because who would believe that this child was by God....????? They were obedient to God because they knew God. These people knew the love and mercy of God. They trusted God because they knew his way was the way of Good News and the troubles that they would experience would be entrusted to Him to take care of and He would carry them through.
We experience troubles and, if you are like me, you grumble at God and complain that He doesn’t really care about you. We know from scripture though that this is not true. We know what God is like because Jesus shows us clearly His mercy and love. When we feel that God is removed from our sorrows we can know that it isn’t true. Even the Old Testament reading clearly explains how God feels our distress;
Isaiah 63:8,9 “8 He said, “Surely they are my people, children who will be true to me”; and so he became their Savior.9 In all their distress he too was distressed, and the angel of his presence saved them. In his love and mercy he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.”
Note that we are not likely to be free from distress, but that God feels this with us and along with saving and redeeming us, he will carry us through. We also know that He understands our sufferings because in Jesus He became fully human and experienced suffering:
Hebrews 2:14- 18 “ 14 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— 15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. 16 For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. 17 For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. 18 Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.”
At the end of the Superman movie Superman has to take back his super powers for the greater good. Lois Lane is left confused and hurt. Many of us live in the same confusion and hurt. We are Christians and proclaim the Good news, yet life’s experiences leave us battle weary, confused and hurt. Jesus has risen (taken back his super powers), and for the time being his Kingdom is not yet on Earth as it is in Heaven. We, like Lois Lane in the movie, do not have the whole story. All we can do is to grow in our relationship with God such that we can fully trust him.
Troubles on planet Earth are a certainty. For those who love God, all things will eventually work for Good.... Following God and walking in the path of His promise is no exception to a life of trouble and danger but know that God feels our every distress and so trust in him fully – he will save us and carry us through.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Reflection on readings for 19 December 2010
Year A Fourth Sunday of Advent 19 December 2010
Isaiah 7: 10-16 Psalm 80: 1-7, 17-19 Romans 1: 1-7 Matthew 1: 18-25
Isaiah 7: 10-14 “10 Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz, 11 “Ask the LORD your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights.”
12 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask; I will not put the LORD to the test.”
13 Then Isaiah said, “Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of humans? Will you try the patience of my God also? 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”
Throughout this season of Advent there has been a song that keeps coming to mind. The song begins with the words, “I have made you too small in my eye. Oh Lord, forgive”. Then the chorus goes on.. “be magnified oh Lord.....”
I feel that this week’s readings really ask us the question, Have we made God too small in our eyes?
How strange it is, that only last week I was speaking about my lovely car, because right after I sent the reflection I went to go somewhere in my car and the back door wouldn’t open. It seemed like something was jamming it and I tried numerous times to open it – without forcing it as I knew that would do damage.
In the meantime I continued to drive my car and do things as I didn’t have time to take the car to someone to get it fixed. I prayed about it. I prayed something like, “God, I know you can do all things.. do you think you could fix my door?”
Imagine my surprise when a few days later I asked Brittany to have a go at doing exactly what I’d done numerous times in an effort to open the door, and it open easily!!!!!
Of course there is probably a logical explanation, and I was pondering that logical explanation, when I realized that I wasn’t acknowledging God’s part..... or minimising his part. I consciously had to check myself and remind myself that God can do these things and I shouldn’t doubt, but should give Him the glory. The door was fixed after prayer and beyond any doubt to me – God did it! Does God care about these seemingly trivial things? We have only to read the Gospels to see the many seemingly trivial things that Jesus provided for the people. He cares about anything that is concern to us - small or great!
Have we reduced God to that safety net for when we die, diminishing his power to affect our lives here and now?
In our first reading God speaks to the king Ahaz to ask him for a sign. King Ahaz was a king dreading two kings who were against him.... he needed encouragement from God. He needed to have a promise of assurance from God, but he didn’t expect to get it. God gives him assurance regardless and gives the prophetic message about the virgin being with child.
We really are no different from King Ahaz. We need the encouragement of God’s promise, but do we expect God to do this for us? We hear the message of God, but it goes in one ear and out the other, as we expect that it isn’t really for us.... and we don’t ask God for assurance in a sign... we would feel foolish... And yet God was happy to give Ahaz a sign.
Now not only do we minimise God in our eyes by not expecting him to encourage us with personal promises, but we doubt the signs that he has given.
Do you think it was any less perplexing to the people who originally received this message – that a virgin would be with child- than it is for those in our generation? People often ask things about God, things that they don’t understand and can’t grasp, and it all boils down to this same attitude of doubt.
Our readings this week remind us of the virgin birth. It is a stumbling block to unbelievers and sadly many believers over the years have lost faith over this and other issues. There are many things about God that we can not understand. A little child asking a father to explain quantum physics would be left just as perplexed. In the same way we are the children of God and our minds are too immature to grasp some things about God. But some things we don’t understand are not because we can’t but that we are unwilling to except the greatness of God.
I was having a conversation with a friend who was having difficulty comprehending the Trinity. How can God be one and yet three? And how can Jesus be God yet call God his father? It is an issue that comes up often and I have used many explanations, but they are never quite adequate to settle the matter. Co-incidentally, we’d been watching TV and the ad for the chocolates, Fererer Roche’s had been on a little earlier. It is the one where there are three different kinds of chocolates are offered to the beautiful goddess. Everyone waits to see which she’ll choose first. Then she becomes three and chooses one of each. Perfect!
We have this amazing gift of imagination that allows us to accept these fantasy aspects without question. So why can’t we apply the same principles to God? The answer is that we make God too small in our eyes. We reduce him to our own limitations instead to realizing that he is God.
At Christmas we celebrate that Jesus came.... he was the promised Messiah, but he was much more than anyone anticipated.
Romans 1:1-4 “ 1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God— 2 the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures 3 regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life was a descendant of David, 4 and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Humanly speaking, Jesus was a descendant of King David. In fact his linage can be traced back to Adam. But more importantly he was the son of God. He was like us and yet he is God. There is so much more to Jesus and the evidence for that is that he rose from the dead.
The Resurrection is another stumbling block. Many have tried to explain it away in “logical” terms. I’ve even come across the notion that Jesus wasn’t really dead.... just unconscious. No one who reads the scriptures can possibly believe such a ridiculous lie. Jesus blood was completely shed and the guards checked to see that he was dead before taking him from the cross. They saw that he was already dead and so they didn’t break his legs as they did to other crucifixion victims, but just to be absolutely certain they pierced his side... that was when the water flowed out with the last remnants of Jesus blood.
Now.... I can come up with many logical explanations for my car door and say that God was behind it, but it was still logical, but the resurrection is a whole different story. The resurrection happened because Jesus is God and God is beyond our human logic.
When we have truly grasped this, the virgin birth needs no explanation or discussion.
I pray that this Christmas we grow to really accept the miracles of God. Our faith is a story of God’s love and power, his amazing sacrifice in becoming vulnerable and dying for us. But as St. Paul has said in his letter, if the resurrection has not happened then everything is a lie, and we should be pitied and ridiculous people with a ridiculous faith... but the resurrection did happen. Let us not make God too small in our eyes. “Oh Lord, be magnified.”
Isaiah 7: 10-16 Psalm 80: 1-7, 17-19 Romans 1: 1-7 Matthew 1: 18-25
Isaiah 7: 10-14 “10 Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz, 11 “Ask the LORD your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights.”
12 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask; I will not put the LORD to the test.”
13 Then Isaiah said, “Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of humans? Will you try the patience of my God also? 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”
Throughout this season of Advent there has been a song that keeps coming to mind. The song begins with the words, “I have made you too small in my eye. Oh Lord, forgive”. Then the chorus goes on.. “be magnified oh Lord.....”
I feel that this week’s readings really ask us the question, Have we made God too small in our eyes?
How strange it is, that only last week I was speaking about my lovely car, because right after I sent the reflection I went to go somewhere in my car and the back door wouldn’t open. It seemed like something was jamming it and I tried numerous times to open it – without forcing it as I knew that would do damage.
In the meantime I continued to drive my car and do things as I didn’t have time to take the car to someone to get it fixed. I prayed about it. I prayed something like, “God, I know you can do all things.. do you think you could fix my door?”
Imagine my surprise when a few days later I asked Brittany to have a go at doing exactly what I’d done numerous times in an effort to open the door, and it open easily!!!!!
Of course there is probably a logical explanation, and I was pondering that logical explanation, when I realized that I wasn’t acknowledging God’s part..... or minimising his part. I consciously had to check myself and remind myself that God can do these things and I shouldn’t doubt, but should give Him the glory. The door was fixed after prayer and beyond any doubt to me – God did it! Does God care about these seemingly trivial things? We have only to read the Gospels to see the many seemingly trivial things that Jesus provided for the people. He cares about anything that is concern to us - small or great!
Have we reduced God to that safety net for when we die, diminishing his power to affect our lives here and now?
In our first reading God speaks to the king Ahaz to ask him for a sign. King Ahaz was a king dreading two kings who were against him.... he needed encouragement from God. He needed to have a promise of assurance from God, but he didn’t expect to get it. God gives him assurance regardless and gives the prophetic message about the virgin being with child.
We really are no different from King Ahaz. We need the encouragement of God’s promise, but do we expect God to do this for us? We hear the message of God, but it goes in one ear and out the other, as we expect that it isn’t really for us.... and we don’t ask God for assurance in a sign... we would feel foolish... And yet God was happy to give Ahaz a sign.
Now not only do we minimise God in our eyes by not expecting him to encourage us with personal promises, but we doubt the signs that he has given.
Do you think it was any less perplexing to the people who originally received this message – that a virgin would be with child- than it is for those in our generation? People often ask things about God, things that they don’t understand and can’t grasp, and it all boils down to this same attitude of doubt.
Our readings this week remind us of the virgin birth. It is a stumbling block to unbelievers and sadly many believers over the years have lost faith over this and other issues. There are many things about God that we can not understand. A little child asking a father to explain quantum physics would be left just as perplexed. In the same way we are the children of God and our minds are too immature to grasp some things about God. But some things we don’t understand are not because we can’t but that we are unwilling to except the greatness of God.
I was having a conversation with a friend who was having difficulty comprehending the Trinity. How can God be one and yet three? And how can Jesus be God yet call God his father? It is an issue that comes up often and I have used many explanations, but they are never quite adequate to settle the matter. Co-incidentally, we’d been watching TV and the ad for the chocolates, Fererer Roche’s had been on a little earlier. It is the one where there are three different kinds of chocolates are offered to the beautiful goddess. Everyone waits to see which she’ll choose first. Then she becomes three and chooses one of each. Perfect!
We have this amazing gift of imagination that allows us to accept these fantasy aspects without question. So why can’t we apply the same principles to God? The answer is that we make God too small in our eyes. We reduce him to our own limitations instead to realizing that he is God.
At Christmas we celebrate that Jesus came.... he was the promised Messiah, but he was much more than anyone anticipated.
Romans 1:1-4 “ 1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God— 2 the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures 3 regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life was a descendant of David, 4 and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Humanly speaking, Jesus was a descendant of King David. In fact his linage can be traced back to Adam. But more importantly he was the son of God. He was like us and yet he is God. There is so much more to Jesus and the evidence for that is that he rose from the dead.
The Resurrection is another stumbling block. Many have tried to explain it away in “logical” terms. I’ve even come across the notion that Jesus wasn’t really dead.... just unconscious. No one who reads the scriptures can possibly believe such a ridiculous lie. Jesus blood was completely shed and the guards checked to see that he was dead before taking him from the cross. They saw that he was already dead and so they didn’t break his legs as they did to other crucifixion victims, but just to be absolutely certain they pierced his side... that was when the water flowed out with the last remnants of Jesus blood.
Now.... I can come up with many logical explanations for my car door and say that God was behind it, but it was still logical, but the resurrection is a whole different story. The resurrection happened because Jesus is God and God is beyond our human logic.
When we have truly grasped this, the virgin birth needs no explanation or discussion.
I pray that this Christmas we grow to really accept the miracles of God. Our faith is a story of God’s love and power, his amazing sacrifice in becoming vulnerable and dying for us. But as St. Paul has said in his letter, if the resurrection has not happened then everything is a lie, and we should be pitied and ridiculous people with a ridiculous faith... but the resurrection did happen. Let us not make God too small in our eyes. “Oh Lord, be magnified.”
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