Year B Fourth Sunday after Epiphany 29 January 2012
Deuteronomy 18:15-20 Psalm 111 1 Corinthians 8:1-13 Mark 1:21-28
I’ve just come across a saying on facebook that did the email rounds sometime ago and in a back to front way it fits in with our readings for this week...... will tell you what it is... but not yet.
Our readings this week talk about accountability and responsibility. At first glance these words look like they could be the same thing, but they are not.
Both are rather serious sounding words and each requires some kind of action.
As Christians we are accountable.
Our second reading tells us that we are not to cause our weaker brothers and sisters to sin by exercising our freedom.
You see, we do have an amazing freedom. Very few of us live in the joy of that freedom and most often church communities develop their own very strict set of “dos” and “don’ts”. Often these are put in place for the very reason of our accountability, but unfortunately we sometime miss the “Good News” of the freedom we have in Christ when we enforce these things.
St. Paul wrote about this to the Corinthians who so truly understood their freedom that they forgot to be mindful of the weaker brothers and sisters.
1 Corinthians 8:9-11 “Be careful, however, that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling block to the weak. For if someone with a weak conscience sees you, with all your knowledge, eating in an idol’s temple, won’t that person be emboldened to eat what is sacrificed to idols? So this weak brother or sister, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge.”
In our experience it is not the meat offered to idols that is an exercise of our freedom, but the various other things that the world has to offer which may seem to others as sinful.
For a long time there was a joke among some churches that kissing should not be allowed, because it leads to dancing!! The meaning was that some thought dancing was sinful.
In a similar way I’ve noticed many Christians, who dismissed the Christian authenticity of individuals because of how they dressed, spoke and the places they were comfortable going... eg. Nightclubs.
We often forget that we become Christian by the Holy Spirit that brings us to spiritual birth when we accept Christ as our saviour. The authenticity of our Christianity is this Holy Spirit living within us and thankfully, NOT the things we do.
Strangely enough it is often those who do not have the Spirit who can recognise it in a person. What I’m saying is, that we in the church will often look for actions of “holiness” to prove this thing that we can’t physically see. The proof of a real Christian is not in these acts, but in something way less tangible and we need the Holy Spirit gift of discernment to really see it.
In demanding a “look of Christianity” we sometimes kill the freedom that we have in Christ and actually quench the Spirit.
An example of this is something I’ve heard happening often..... A minister will sometimes advise their youth not to attend a regional or state Christian conference. They seem to fear that the youth might learn something wrong. It is similar with adult conferences. I’ve attended many ecumenical conferences and there are always some churches who won’t promote the international speakers’ visit, due to an irrational fear of the unknown. We need to let the Holy Spirit work.... and he works through our freedom. This is not what St. Paul is talking about when he tells us to be mindful of others.
The Corinthian Christians were not quenching the Spirit, but they were grieving the spirit because new believers didn’t understand the difference between what was helpful for their Christian walk and what was harmful.
We are free. I am free to eat chocolate and I like it a lot. If I want it for dinner I can have it, but it would not set a good example for small children, who don’t understand the nutritional needs of our bodies.
My children are now older. I have a rule – no girl/boy sleep-overs. In our contemporary culture this has become acceptable and is in fact hard to explain that you have are in a relationship but live separately..... it is not helpful for our Christian growth to live in the way that society accepts. I set the same rule for myself as for my children.... if they choose not to live by this rule, they choose to live elsewhere and as young adults, that becomes their responsibility.
Sometimes it is hard as a parent to do what we need to for the sake of our children’s understanding of what is helpful and what is harmful. We need to put aside the freedom we have as adults and show our children what it is to be a “responsible” adult.... and we are “accountable” for teaching them this. And so, this can mean not drinking to the point of becoming drunk.... driving in the way that you want them to drive when they are new learners. Etc.
I was told some time ago, “you can’t tell your kids what to do once they become adults”..... Well, just watch me! While I tell them, I unconditionally love them and let them know this, but I will always tell my children if I think they are doing the wrong thing because that is my job.... I am accountable for that – how they respond is up to them and is their responsibility.
Although I’ve gone a bit aside talking about Children and parents, it is important to understand, because it is the perfect parable for what the message of our readings are this week.
Deuteronomy 18:17-20 “The LORD said to me: “What they say is good. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him. I myself will call to account anyone who does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name. But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, is to be put to death.”
In this passage God was speaking to Moses about the prophet he would send. In the way of God, this referred both to the prophets God would send and then especially it is referring to Jesus.
We have a responsibility to heed the words of Jesus and we will be held accountable if we do not listen. All of us have heard the words of Jesus, but have we “listened” – or are we lying to ourselves, convincing ourselves that we will not be held accountable?
Mark 1:21-28 describes the scene of Jesus teaching in the synagogue. The people were amazed at the authority with which he taught. And then, to add further proof to his authority, a man possess by a demon (unclean spirit) throws himself at Jesus. Jesus commands the spirit and the people are once more convinced of the authority of Jesus.
“Ah.... how nice. Yes Jesus has amazing authority and Oh.... if only we had been there.... “
Well, here is a news flash; those same people rejected Jesus when the going got tough. And here is another news flash; God holds them accountable.
Those people were the chosen race of God. They were the religious leaders and good, law abiding citizens. They rejected Jesus and God holds them accountable. Why? Because he had told them, way back at the time of Moses, that he would send his prophet and the people must listen to him. These chosen people of God witnessed the miracles and sensed the authority of Jesus, but they ultimately rejected him.
God gives us free will. He sends us many prophets along the way to point us towards the path he wants us to take, but we have to choose to take that path.
And now that you are possibly freaked out by the severity of our accountability I have some more good news;
To fail is human! Which is why we need to be connected to the body of Christ through regular church attendance to keep on track. It is the body of Christ where the modern day prophets speak and point out some of those boundaries we may sometimes cross. But just in case you think that those prophets are perfect.... or just in case your excuse for not listening to them is because they are not perfect..... The facebook gem that I came across today is that one about how Jacob was a cheater, St. Peter had a temper, David had an affair, Noah got drunk, St. Paul was a murderer, Gideon was insecure, Miriam was a gossiper, Martha was a worrier, Thomas was a doubter, Elijah was depressed, Moses was a stutterer, Zaccheus was short, Abraham was old and Lazarus was dead.
These were the prophets called by God. They were not perfect and neither are we, but we have a responsibility to listen to the word of God through his people and we are accountable to then become his message of salvation.
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Reflection on readings for 22nd january 2012
Year B Third Sunday after Epiphany 22 January 2012
Jonah 3:1-5, 10 Psalm 62:5-12 1 Corinthians 7:29-31 Mark 1:14-20
The readings this week are short and straight to the point. They are about people being called by God and these people answering the call. At least that is how it appears at a superficial reading, but if we look further we see that there is actually more to each story.
The Gospel tells us about Jesus calling Simon Peter and Andrew and then the brothers, John and James.
Mark 1:16-20 “As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” At once they left their nets and followed him.
When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.”
From the reading we get this image of Jesus calling out, “come follow me” and these men immediately acting as if hypnotised, blindly and strangely, dropping everything to follow him. We know from other Gospel accounts that these men had been followers of John the Baptist. They had witnessed John’s testimony about Jesus and had already encountered Jesus personally. The ground work had been done and these men were ready to answer the call.
One of my favourite stories from the Bible is the account of Jonah. There is so much we can learn from Jonah, but more than anything we can relate to Jonah.
Jonah was a prophet. He was relatively comfortable in this role and comfortable with his relationship with God until God calls him to go and speak to the city of Nineveh. I’m assuming we all know the story of Jonah being swallowed by the great fish.... What happened was that Jonah tried to run away from God.
Interesting...... Jonah ran away from God and straight into trouble. There is a message for us right there, but the emphasis on this week’s reading is Jonah’s second call.
Jonah had re-submitted his life into God’s hands and God had rescued him. Then it seems that God calls Jonah again.
I’m reading in between the lines, of course, but it seems to me that Jonah surely must have realized that he had failed as a prophet. In today’s world we would have sacked this preacher and left him to find other employment. I’m sure that God could have used someone else to go to the Ninevites and give them His message, but there is something very important that we need to learn about the way God operates, and we learn it through this story.
God called Jonah. Full stop!
He didn’t un-call him or decommission him or “let him go”. Jonah was called, commissioned and in that he was affirmed as being in a positive and sure relationship with God.
Sometimes I see leaders in Churches and I do wonder if God called them. Other times I have a strong sense of a person called by God, but they “fail” and the church dismisses them. One very simple example of this is a priest from when I was just a teenager. He was the most gifted priest, who really taught well from the pulpit, but also had a way of pastoral care and wisdom that meant that the parish grew in both number and activity and in spiritual maturity. Eventually the priest moved on and later left the church because he decided that he wanted to marry. The churches loss!
Stories like these we hear time and again, but sometimes the “failure” is more than a perceived failure and actual sin...... sometimes, we are the only ones who know and we feel that we can not be useful to God because we know just how bad we are.
If we have been called by God, we are called. Running away, we will find ourselves running into trouble, but in acknowledging our failure we will find that we have not forfeited the call and purpose that God has for our lives. The call of God is constant.
When we are called we know that we are forgiven. The “word of the Lord” coming a second time to Jonah, reassured him that God still had a plan and a purpose for him and it was the same plan and purpose that God had all along.
Mark 1:14-15 “After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”
There is also a sense of urgency about this week’s readings. “The time has come....” The time HAS come. It is time we stopped feeding our doubts and claimed back the truth, but to do this we need to know that we are also called.
It isn’t just those who are far away from God who need to repent and believe the Good News. From day to day, many of us get lost in our own world and in our own narrow perspective. To believe the Good News means to open our eyes to the bigger picture and realize that God has all of our personal “worlds” in his hands. But we need to repent. We need to realize that we have been running away from God by not fully trusting in him and not following the purpose to which he has called us.
But how do we know that God is calling us?
I remember seeing a poster many years ago with this same question. In big letters the poster said;
How can you know that God is calling you?
................................You are breathing!
Jonah 3:1-5, 10 Psalm 62:5-12 1 Corinthians 7:29-31 Mark 1:14-20
The readings this week are short and straight to the point. They are about people being called by God and these people answering the call. At least that is how it appears at a superficial reading, but if we look further we see that there is actually more to each story.
The Gospel tells us about Jesus calling Simon Peter and Andrew and then the brothers, John and James.
Mark 1:16-20 “As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” At once they left their nets and followed him.
When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.”
From the reading we get this image of Jesus calling out, “come follow me” and these men immediately acting as if hypnotised, blindly and strangely, dropping everything to follow him. We know from other Gospel accounts that these men had been followers of John the Baptist. They had witnessed John’s testimony about Jesus and had already encountered Jesus personally. The ground work had been done and these men were ready to answer the call.
One of my favourite stories from the Bible is the account of Jonah. There is so much we can learn from Jonah, but more than anything we can relate to Jonah.
Jonah was a prophet. He was relatively comfortable in this role and comfortable with his relationship with God until God calls him to go and speak to the city of Nineveh. I’m assuming we all know the story of Jonah being swallowed by the great fish.... What happened was that Jonah tried to run away from God.
Interesting...... Jonah ran away from God and straight into trouble. There is a message for us right there, but the emphasis on this week’s reading is Jonah’s second call.
Jonah had re-submitted his life into God’s hands and God had rescued him. Then it seems that God calls Jonah again.
I’m reading in between the lines, of course, but it seems to me that Jonah surely must have realized that he had failed as a prophet. In today’s world we would have sacked this preacher and left him to find other employment. I’m sure that God could have used someone else to go to the Ninevites and give them His message, but there is something very important that we need to learn about the way God operates, and we learn it through this story.
God called Jonah. Full stop!
He didn’t un-call him or decommission him or “let him go”. Jonah was called, commissioned and in that he was affirmed as being in a positive and sure relationship with God.
Sometimes I see leaders in Churches and I do wonder if God called them. Other times I have a strong sense of a person called by God, but they “fail” and the church dismisses them. One very simple example of this is a priest from when I was just a teenager. He was the most gifted priest, who really taught well from the pulpit, but also had a way of pastoral care and wisdom that meant that the parish grew in both number and activity and in spiritual maturity. Eventually the priest moved on and later left the church because he decided that he wanted to marry. The churches loss!
Stories like these we hear time and again, but sometimes the “failure” is more than a perceived failure and actual sin...... sometimes, we are the only ones who know and we feel that we can not be useful to God because we know just how bad we are.
If we have been called by God, we are called. Running away, we will find ourselves running into trouble, but in acknowledging our failure we will find that we have not forfeited the call and purpose that God has for our lives. The call of God is constant.
When we are called we know that we are forgiven. The “word of the Lord” coming a second time to Jonah, reassured him that God still had a plan and a purpose for him and it was the same plan and purpose that God had all along.
Mark 1:14-15 “After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”
There is also a sense of urgency about this week’s readings. “The time has come....” The time HAS come. It is time we stopped feeding our doubts and claimed back the truth, but to do this we need to know that we are also called.
It isn’t just those who are far away from God who need to repent and believe the Good News. From day to day, many of us get lost in our own world and in our own narrow perspective. To believe the Good News means to open our eyes to the bigger picture and realize that God has all of our personal “worlds” in his hands. But we need to repent. We need to realize that we have been running away from God by not fully trusting in him and not following the purpose to which he has called us.
But how do we know that God is calling us?
I remember seeing a poster many years ago with this same question. In big letters the poster said;
How can you know that God is calling you?
................................You are breathing!
Friday, December 23, 2011
Christmas reflection 2011
25 December 2011 Xmas
Isaiah 52: 7-10 Psalm 98 Hebrews 1: 1-4, (5-12) John 1: 1-14
It has just become Christmas Eve, and I’m up rather late. It has been a while since I’ve written a reflection and if the truth be known, I’ve been struggling quite a bit. After Joe died I was coping pretty well. I think I had subconsciously psyched myself into coping before he died, but as the time has progressed I seem to be progressively running out of coping ability. I’m okay.... but worn out.
However, it is time I communicated again.
The readings for Christmas are very precious, and the Gospel reading from John is a personal favourite of mine.
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.”
Quite often, when someone first becomes a Christian, it is suggested that they read the Gospel of Mark. Mark is simple and gives a concise overview of the life of Jesus. If I am ever running a Bible study, I like to start with John 1. This is the very centre of Christianity. It is not simple, but divisive, as it states clearly that Jesus is God – and that is not easily accepted.
If you were to walk down the street – or maybe even survey your church about who Jesus is, you might be interested in the varying opinions and understandings. Many can accept Jesus as a good moral teacher, or a prophet.... even the son of God, but very few can grasp the idea of this oneness that the son had with the father.
In the beginning was the word. In this passage, John refers to Jesus as the “word” and we are told that the word was there in the beginning. If we go back to the account of the creation, back to the beginning of Genesis and look for the person of Jesus we might have trouble finding him, but if we look for the “word”, we will discover that God created, not by pointing his finger or twitching His nose, but by speaking.
Genesis 1:3 “And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.”
Throughout the Old Testament there are references to the “word of God” or “word of the LORD”. This is the case in the story of Samuel the prophet. He was a boy who lived with the priest and ministered in the house of God and yet this is said about him at the time that God called him:
1 Samuel 3:7 “Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD: The word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him.”
The “Word of the LORD” isn’t referring to anything written, but a personal revelation of God. Before this encounter Samuel knew about God, but after this encounter Samuel knew the “word of the LORD”..... he knew Jesus. (Though not by that name).
Our Christmas reading from the letter to the Hebrews also confirms the deity of Christ and that the son was there at the creation of the world:
Hebrews 1: 8- “But about the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever; a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy.”
He also says,
“In the beginning, Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will roll them up like a robe; like a garment they will be changed. But you remain the same, and your years will never end.”
There is only one God, but like the Ferrero Rocher add where the goddess splits into 3, we know God is beyond our human limitations and is three “persons” in one. It is fair to say that Jesus is the visible expression of the unseen God and Jesus is a part of God that communicates with us.
In our changing times it is important to remember that God does not change. Our world is changing and we see in the reading from Hebrews a hint that God foresaw this when we are told, the foundations of the earth and the heavens will all wear out like a garment that will be changed. We could become quite panicked about the state of our world and climate change and the many disasters, but as Christians we should have calm at the core of our being because our trust is not in these things, but in the unchanging, merciful and loving God.
Each Christmas we recall that the “word of God” became flesh. It is a most holy recollection, and more often than not, the enormity and consequence is completely beyond our comprehension. A primary objective in this recollection should be to grow in our understanding of what this event means both theologically and personally. It is the Holy Spirit that enables us to understand these things, but often it seems to be one glimpse at a time.
A secondary objective in the Christmas story is to remember that Christ will come again. Once again, this is beyond our comprehension also, and we rely on the Holy Spirit to keep us focused on how we should be living our lives as we walk in the shadow of this reality.
In our changing times we sometimes lose sight of how we fit into the picture of God’s plans. Are we the spectators, God’s supporters cheering on the sidelines as God goes into battle against the evil of the world? It often feels this way, but of course, we are not.
We are called to be those who bring the good news. Isaiah 52:7-8 tells us “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!” Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices; together they shout for joy. When the LORD returns to Zion, they will see it with their own eyes.”
We are the watchmen, looking out to keep the Gods people alerted, but we also bring the Good News of God’s kingdom to those who don’t know about it, or don’t understand it. We are also those who proclaim peace.... not the kind of peace that means we are against war – no, this is much more important, this is the peace that exists between humanity and God because of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, and this is the salvation that we proclaim.
Many people become anxious when they hear the scriptures encouragement to proclaim the Good News, but this happens very naturally in our daily conversations and in the witness of our lives. Our responsibility is to grow in Christ so that these conversations and lives do bear witness to the Good News.
We, the Church, have a role to play as we herald the second coming of Christ. We are the ones who go ahead to prepare the way.... we are John the Baptist: John 1:7-8 “He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.”
John the Baptist dedicated his life to this role. Without this first coming of Jesus we are all lost in our sin with no hope of eternal life, but only fear of judgment. Instead we rejoice that we do have eternal life and loving union with God. We do not fear judgment because our sins are covered by the blood of Jesus shed on the cross. Without the “word becoming flesh” we have no life and no hope. We owe it then to dedicate our whole lives to heralding the Good News so that the world is prepared for the second coming of Christ.
Isaiah 52: 7-10 Psalm 98 Hebrews 1: 1-4, (5-12) John 1: 1-14
It has just become Christmas Eve, and I’m up rather late. It has been a while since I’ve written a reflection and if the truth be known, I’ve been struggling quite a bit. After Joe died I was coping pretty well. I think I had subconsciously psyched myself into coping before he died, but as the time has progressed I seem to be progressively running out of coping ability. I’m okay.... but worn out.
However, it is time I communicated again.
The readings for Christmas are very precious, and the Gospel reading from John is a personal favourite of mine.
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.”
Quite often, when someone first becomes a Christian, it is suggested that they read the Gospel of Mark. Mark is simple and gives a concise overview of the life of Jesus. If I am ever running a Bible study, I like to start with John 1. This is the very centre of Christianity. It is not simple, but divisive, as it states clearly that Jesus is God – and that is not easily accepted.
If you were to walk down the street – or maybe even survey your church about who Jesus is, you might be interested in the varying opinions and understandings. Many can accept Jesus as a good moral teacher, or a prophet.... even the son of God, but very few can grasp the idea of this oneness that the son had with the father.
In the beginning was the word. In this passage, John refers to Jesus as the “word” and we are told that the word was there in the beginning. If we go back to the account of the creation, back to the beginning of Genesis and look for the person of Jesus we might have trouble finding him, but if we look for the “word”, we will discover that God created, not by pointing his finger or twitching His nose, but by speaking.
Genesis 1:3 “And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.”
Throughout the Old Testament there are references to the “word of God” or “word of the LORD”. This is the case in the story of Samuel the prophet. He was a boy who lived with the priest and ministered in the house of God and yet this is said about him at the time that God called him:
1 Samuel 3:7 “Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD: The word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him.”
The “Word of the LORD” isn’t referring to anything written, but a personal revelation of God. Before this encounter Samuel knew about God, but after this encounter Samuel knew the “word of the LORD”..... he knew Jesus. (Though not by that name).
Our Christmas reading from the letter to the Hebrews also confirms the deity of Christ and that the son was there at the creation of the world:
Hebrews 1: 8- “But about the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever; a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy.”
He also says,
“In the beginning, Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will roll them up like a robe; like a garment they will be changed. But you remain the same, and your years will never end.”
There is only one God, but like the Ferrero Rocher add where the goddess splits into 3, we know God is beyond our human limitations and is three “persons” in one. It is fair to say that Jesus is the visible expression of the unseen God and Jesus is a part of God that communicates with us.
In our changing times it is important to remember that God does not change. Our world is changing and we see in the reading from Hebrews a hint that God foresaw this when we are told, the foundations of the earth and the heavens will all wear out like a garment that will be changed. We could become quite panicked about the state of our world and climate change and the many disasters, but as Christians we should have calm at the core of our being because our trust is not in these things, but in the unchanging, merciful and loving God.
Each Christmas we recall that the “word of God” became flesh. It is a most holy recollection, and more often than not, the enormity and consequence is completely beyond our comprehension. A primary objective in this recollection should be to grow in our understanding of what this event means both theologically and personally. It is the Holy Spirit that enables us to understand these things, but often it seems to be one glimpse at a time.
A secondary objective in the Christmas story is to remember that Christ will come again. Once again, this is beyond our comprehension also, and we rely on the Holy Spirit to keep us focused on how we should be living our lives as we walk in the shadow of this reality.
In our changing times we sometimes lose sight of how we fit into the picture of God’s plans. Are we the spectators, God’s supporters cheering on the sidelines as God goes into battle against the evil of the world? It often feels this way, but of course, we are not.
We are called to be those who bring the good news. Isaiah 52:7-8 tells us “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!” Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices; together they shout for joy. When the LORD returns to Zion, they will see it with their own eyes.”
We are the watchmen, looking out to keep the Gods people alerted, but we also bring the Good News of God’s kingdom to those who don’t know about it, or don’t understand it. We are also those who proclaim peace.... not the kind of peace that means we are against war – no, this is much more important, this is the peace that exists between humanity and God because of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, and this is the salvation that we proclaim.
Many people become anxious when they hear the scriptures encouragement to proclaim the Good News, but this happens very naturally in our daily conversations and in the witness of our lives. Our responsibility is to grow in Christ so that these conversations and lives do bear witness to the Good News.
We, the Church, have a role to play as we herald the second coming of Christ. We are the ones who go ahead to prepare the way.... we are John the Baptist: John 1:7-8 “He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.”
John the Baptist dedicated his life to this role. Without this first coming of Jesus we are all lost in our sin with no hope of eternal life, but only fear of judgment. Instead we rejoice that we do have eternal life and loving union with God. We do not fear judgment because our sins are covered by the blood of Jesus shed on the cross. Without the “word becoming flesh” we have no life and no hope. We owe it then to dedicate our whole lives to heralding the Good News so that the world is prepared for the second coming of Christ.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Reflection on readings for 20th November 2011
Year A Proper 29 - Reign of Christ 20 November 2011
Ezekiel 34: 11-16, 20-24 Psalm 100 Ephesians 1: 15-23 Matthew 25: 31-46
The weak and the strong have differing abilities, needs and responsibilities. Which one are you, and what should you being doing about it?
Our first reading from Ezekiel reminds us of the love of God and how, like a shepherd, he will gather us when we’ve been scattered. We are reminded that God has a special love and care for the weak, but there is a word of judgment to the sleek and strong.
Ezekiel 34:15-16 "I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign LORD. I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.”
At the time of Ezekiel the nation of Israel was scattered and broken. The reason for them being in such a state was because the majority had not steadfastly kept to God’s ways. They were a nation who liked to mix with the other nations and take a bit of religion from each and mix it with their own. In today’s culture we’d applaud them for being so embracing and open-minded. There were always an annoying minority though, who refused to be politically correct. These seemed to be judgemental because they proclaimed an ‘exclusive” kind of religion where certain actions were called “sin” and they refused to compromise with the nations around about whose god really was god.
The God of the Israelite nation had sent prophet after prophet to warn the people that these “politically correct” and “socially sensitive” ways were “sin”, but the majority of the people mistreated and persecuted these prophets. Is it any different today?
Due to the vast sin and the refusal to listen to the prophets, God inspired nations to come against the Israelites and in the fall out, the nation was scattered and broken.
There is a lot I haven’t yet said, but I hope you are reading in between the lines and seeing how much the church has in common with that ancient Israelite nation. We, the church, are God’s chosen people, but in many cases we are compromising. There are many, who belong to the church, who have taken on “other gods”.... strange beliefs.... because they are listening to new age philosophies from friends – philosophies that suit them and make them feel good. For example, I receive emails with a beautiful prayer – it is said to have special power if you send it to 12 more people. The power of prayer is only as powerful as the one to whom you are praying. Pray to God and there truly is infinite power, but it is according to his will and not something that you can manipulate by sending it to X amount of people.
There are a number of social issues that we feel pressure to bow to, but if we do so we are bowing to an idol. It is the Idol of a self made god, made in man’s image. It is sin. Let me list these: abortion, homosexuality, adultery. I am so tired of tip-toeing around these issues because I might offend someone. Please don’t misunderstand me, I don’t exclude people because of these sins.... and neither does God (Remember Jesus episode with the woman caught in adultery? He didn’t condemn her, told her to go and sin no more). We all sin!!! I have only listed these things that society has put pressure on the church to rename these as not being sin. I sin and you sin. That is why Jesus came to save us..... we cannot, by ourselves, attain the standard of perfection, but as God’s people we need to acknowledge our sin and if we re-name these things then we are the strong who are leading the weak astray and sending them to their own destruction.
We discover, as we look at our Gospel reading, that the strong have a responsibility to care for the weak. Traditionally this has been read and understood as our social responsibility to the poor and those in third world countries. The Church has been a leader in social justice and fighting for the rights of those who can’t fight for themselves. It is this Christian principal that we see in our defence forces. Unfortunately, many people who’ve grown up without this principal of caring for those less fortunate don’t understand and think if it is someone else’s problem then we should just let them have it.
If we look again at the reading we will see that there is more to the reading than social justice.
Matthew 25:37-40 ““Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
I notice that there is a relationship between the “King” and the “brothers and sisters”.
There is a dangerous tendency in our church families to think that those we need to care for are exclusively those outside the church or those perceived as different. A story that I heard once was of a problem between two ladies who were attending a church activity. One had a disability and the other did not. The people immediately went into social justice mode and looked after the lady with the disability and ignored the other lady.
We often assume if someone is like us that they need no extra support. We often think that if someone is at church then they are “okay!” We need to be aware of those around us, because these are the brothers and sisters of Christ and he wants us to be looking out for them.
I’d like to take this a step further; from church family to church family there are groups who are weak and groups who are strong. The Church has become scattered and fragmented. The strong still have a responsibility to care for the weak..... I’m not sure how this can happen, but I am sure that God does expect us to understand this concept and be looking for ways to care for one another. I know that some church leaders get together for prayer and the building of those relationships is a one small way that caring can take place.
In our churches, the same principal can be used. It is the getting together and praying in small groups where we can begin to properly care for one another. Our needs may not be for food and shelter.... but we maybe thirsty for spiritual nourishment, and our love gone cold, may need the cloak of someone’s love to warm.
Saint Paul writes to the Ephesians about his prayer for them. It is the way he, as one who was strong, gave to those brothers and sisters of Christ who were weaker than he. He imparted God’s truths and showed that he cared for them as if they were family. As an evangelist St. Paul might have thought, “okay they are Christians now, my job is done”, but instead he understood that he was also called to continue caring for God’s people.
Ephesians 1:15- 23 “For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.
And so, I’ll leave you with the question I began with. The weak and the strong have differing abilities, needs and responsibilities. Which one are you, and what should you be doing about it?
Ezekiel 34: 11-16, 20-24 Psalm 100 Ephesians 1: 15-23 Matthew 25: 31-46
The weak and the strong have differing abilities, needs and responsibilities. Which one are you, and what should you being doing about it?
Our first reading from Ezekiel reminds us of the love of God and how, like a shepherd, he will gather us when we’ve been scattered. We are reminded that God has a special love and care for the weak, but there is a word of judgment to the sleek and strong.
Ezekiel 34:15-16 "I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign LORD. I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.”
At the time of Ezekiel the nation of Israel was scattered and broken. The reason for them being in such a state was because the majority had not steadfastly kept to God’s ways. They were a nation who liked to mix with the other nations and take a bit of religion from each and mix it with their own. In today’s culture we’d applaud them for being so embracing and open-minded. There were always an annoying minority though, who refused to be politically correct. These seemed to be judgemental because they proclaimed an ‘exclusive” kind of religion where certain actions were called “sin” and they refused to compromise with the nations around about whose god really was god.
The God of the Israelite nation had sent prophet after prophet to warn the people that these “politically correct” and “socially sensitive” ways were “sin”, but the majority of the people mistreated and persecuted these prophets. Is it any different today?
Due to the vast sin and the refusal to listen to the prophets, God inspired nations to come against the Israelites and in the fall out, the nation was scattered and broken.
There is a lot I haven’t yet said, but I hope you are reading in between the lines and seeing how much the church has in common with that ancient Israelite nation. We, the church, are God’s chosen people, but in many cases we are compromising. There are many, who belong to the church, who have taken on “other gods”.... strange beliefs.... because they are listening to new age philosophies from friends – philosophies that suit them and make them feel good. For example, I receive emails with a beautiful prayer – it is said to have special power if you send it to 12 more people. The power of prayer is only as powerful as the one to whom you are praying. Pray to God and there truly is infinite power, but it is according to his will and not something that you can manipulate by sending it to X amount of people.
There are a number of social issues that we feel pressure to bow to, but if we do so we are bowing to an idol. It is the Idol of a self made god, made in man’s image. It is sin. Let me list these: abortion, homosexuality, adultery. I am so tired of tip-toeing around these issues because I might offend someone. Please don’t misunderstand me, I don’t exclude people because of these sins.... and neither does God (Remember Jesus episode with the woman caught in adultery? He didn’t condemn her, told her to go and sin no more). We all sin!!! I have only listed these things that society has put pressure on the church to rename these as not being sin. I sin and you sin. That is why Jesus came to save us..... we cannot, by ourselves, attain the standard of perfection, but as God’s people we need to acknowledge our sin and if we re-name these things then we are the strong who are leading the weak astray and sending them to their own destruction.
We discover, as we look at our Gospel reading, that the strong have a responsibility to care for the weak. Traditionally this has been read and understood as our social responsibility to the poor and those in third world countries. The Church has been a leader in social justice and fighting for the rights of those who can’t fight for themselves. It is this Christian principal that we see in our defence forces. Unfortunately, many people who’ve grown up without this principal of caring for those less fortunate don’t understand and think if it is someone else’s problem then we should just let them have it.
If we look again at the reading we will see that there is more to the reading than social justice.
Matthew 25:37-40 ““Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
I notice that there is a relationship between the “King” and the “brothers and sisters”.
There is a dangerous tendency in our church families to think that those we need to care for are exclusively those outside the church or those perceived as different. A story that I heard once was of a problem between two ladies who were attending a church activity. One had a disability and the other did not. The people immediately went into social justice mode and looked after the lady with the disability and ignored the other lady.
We often assume if someone is like us that they need no extra support. We often think that if someone is at church then they are “okay!” We need to be aware of those around us, because these are the brothers and sisters of Christ and he wants us to be looking out for them.
I’d like to take this a step further; from church family to church family there are groups who are weak and groups who are strong. The Church has become scattered and fragmented. The strong still have a responsibility to care for the weak..... I’m not sure how this can happen, but I am sure that God does expect us to understand this concept and be looking for ways to care for one another. I know that some church leaders get together for prayer and the building of those relationships is a one small way that caring can take place.
In our churches, the same principal can be used. It is the getting together and praying in small groups where we can begin to properly care for one another. Our needs may not be for food and shelter.... but we maybe thirsty for spiritual nourishment, and our love gone cold, may need the cloak of someone’s love to warm.
Saint Paul writes to the Ephesians about his prayer for them. It is the way he, as one who was strong, gave to those brothers and sisters of Christ who were weaker than he. He imparted God’s truths and showed that he cared for them as if they were family. As an evangelist St. Paul might have thought, “okay they are Christians now, my job is done”, but instead he understood that he was also called to continue caring for God’s people.
Ephesians 1:15- 23 “For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.
And so, I’ll leave you with the question I began with. The weak and the strong have differing abilities, needs and responsibilities. Which one are you, and what should you be doing about it?
Monday, October 31, 2011
Reflection on readings for the 6th November 2011
Year A Proper 27 6 November 2011
Joshua 24: 1-3a, 14-25 Psalm 78: 1-7 1 Thessalonians 4: 13-18 Matthew 25: 1-13
Joshua 24:23, 24 “23 “Now then,” said Joshua, “throw away the foreign gods that are among you and yield your hearts to the LORD, the God of Israel.” And the people said to Joshua, “We will serve the LORD our God and obey him.”
We live in a society that doesn’t understand the concept of throwing away foreign gods. As I write this many children are “Trick or treating” and their parents are practising Christians who think this is okay. There are numerous schools, both Christian and secular who are doing activities that centres on Halloween and no one thinks it is anymore than a bit of fun. Much the same as many other popular activities like reading the horoscopes.
In our first reading, which comes from the book of Joshua, after the people have professed their faith in God and their desire to serve him, Joshua tells the people, “you are not able to serve the LORD....” This is true of them and true of us also – and we need some supernatural help to serve God.
Halloween is the eve of the holy day, “all Hallows”, meaning “all Saints”, but its practises and traditions come from the pagan festival honouring the god of the dead. I do not want to go into the Halloween debate, but I do want us to be aware that if we are partaking in these activities then we are not serving our God and we are holding on to, and taking into our houses, foreign gods.
This is not the only “foreign god” that is common in our culture.... we need to think carefully about Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny also. While the events associated with these characters are meant to point to a reality of our faith, many times they teach our children completely opposing truths to our Christian faith. For example “Santa will come if you are good”. The truth is that we can not be good and that is why Jesus came. Also, we find that as children grow out of Santa and the Easter bunny they also grow out of the story of Jesus.
Tomorrow is the feast of all saints and it is followed by a day that is designated to all souls. So it seems fitting in the light of all that is happening this week to have readings about serving God whole heartedly and also our second reading which encourages us not to be so grieved over those loved ones who have died, and we are told that they have “fallen asleep” in Jesus and will rise with him.
The ancient festival on which Halloween is based is called Samhain. During this there were beliefs about the dead and how their souls may be either set free or released into animals. We are told clearly throughout different stories in the Bible that we live once, die and will rise with Christ at his return. It is a belief that is based on the credibility of the man named Jesus who was crucified and rose from the dead.
Saint Paul clarifies our understanding about those who have died in his letter, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14 “Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.”
We have hope! This is an eternal hope – it is amazing good news. We do not need to appease a frightening god. We do not have to perform strange and frightening ceremonies to ensure a “happily ever after”.
This week we have a reminder of the hope that we have. Not only for an eternal existence for our loved ones, but for us also. But we also have very serious warnings in both our first reading and our Gospel.
Our Gospel tells the parable of the ten bridesmaids. These bridesmaids are symbolic of the people of God who greet the bride-groom and light the way for him. The bride-groom is symbolic of Christ and the church is his bride.
As the story goes, the bride-groom was a very, very long time coming. And what a coincidence! 2011 years after the birth of Christ we find Christ’s second coming seems such a long time coming, that many have “fallen asleep”.... The falling asleep is not a problem.... the problem is that when the bride-groom arrives it is in the hours of darkness and we need our lamps to be shining brightly.
Matthew 25:1-13 “ “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
“At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’ “‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’ “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut. “Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’ “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’ “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.”
Oil was used to anoint and is symbolic of the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit that keeps our faith lit.
All ten of the virgins/ bridesmaids had lamps that were lit. When the groom was long in coming some found that they had run out of “oil”... I guess they are those who ran out of faith.
We run out of faith when various things happen and it is different for each individual, but it happens and how is not important. The important thing is to consciously put into place strategies that “keeps the oil flowing”. This is what the wise bridesmaids did. They had the forethought to bring extra oil in a jar.
Therefore, we need to think about what strategies we need in our lives to keep our faith illuminated.
The early Christians would not have been so sure of the hope that they have as Christians, if it wasn’t for the letters from St. Paul. We need to be taught the Gospel truths and then we need to be constantly reminded of them. This is just one way that we keep our faith illuminated. Meeting with other Christians nourishes our spirits and the gifts of the Holy Spirit are shared throughout the community.... we need each other so that we are not lacking in spiritual gifts.
Certainly, if we ignorantly hold on to foreign gods and do not have definite ways of keeping our “lamps” lit (i.e. a community that keeps us on the right track), then we will not even know that we have gone astray from God’s truth and our lamps will go out........... Then when Jesus comes we will awaken and realize our need for our faith...... but will it be too late?
Joshua 24: 1-3a, 14-25 Psalm 78: 1-7 1 Thessalonians 4: 13-18 Matthew 25: 1-13
Joshua 24:23, 24 “23 “Now then,” said Joshua, “throw away the foreign gods that are among you and yield your hearts to the LORD, the God of Israel.” And the people said to Joshua, “We will serve the LORD our God and obey him.”
We live in a society that doesn’t understand the concept of throwing away foreign gods. As I write this many children are “Trick or treating” and their parents are practising Christians who think this is okay. There are numerous schools, both Christian and secular who are doing activities that centres on Halloween and no one thinks it is anymore than a bit of fun. Much the same as many other popular activities like reading the horoscopes.
In our first reading, which comes from the book of Joshua, after the people have professed their faith in God and their desire to serve him, Joshua tells the people, “you are not able to serve the LORD....” This is true of them and true of us also – and we need some supernatural help to serve God.
Halloween is the eve of the holy day, “all Hallows”, meaning “all Saints”, but its practises and traditions come from the pagan festival honouring the god of the dead. I do not want to go into the Halloween debate, but I do want us to be aware that if we are partaking in these activities then we are not serving our God and we are holding on to, and taking into our houses, foreign gods.
This is not the only “foreign god” that is common in our culture.... we need to think carefully about Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny also. While the events associated with these characters are meant to point to a reality of our faith, many times they teach our children completely opposing truths to our Christian faith. For example “Santa will come if you are good”. The truth is that we can not be good and that is why Jesus came. Also, we find that as children grow out of Santa and the Easter bunny they also grow out of the story of Jesus.
Tomorrow is the feast of all saints and it is followed by a day that is designated to all souls. So it seems fitting in the light of all that is happening this week to have readings about serving God whole heartedly and also our second reading which encourages us not to be so grieved over those loved ones who have died, and we are told that they have “fallen asleep” in Jesus and will rise with him.
The ancient festival on which Halloween is based is called Samhain. During this there were beliefs about the dead and how their souls may be either set free or released into animals. We are told clearly throughout different stories in the Bible that we live once, die and will rise with Christ at his return. It is a belief that is based on the credibility of the man named Jesus who was crucified and rose from the dead.
Saint Paul clarifies our understanding about those who have died in his letter, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14 “Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.”
We have hope! This is an eternal hope – it is amazing good news. We do not need to appease a frightening god. We do not have to perform strange and frightening ceremonies to ensure a “happily ever after”.
This week we have a reminder of the hope that we have. Not only for an eternal existence for our loved ones, but for us also. But we also have very serious warnings in both our first reading and our Gospel.
Our Gospel tells the parable of the ten bridesmaids. These bridesmaids are symbolic of the people of God who greet the bride-groom and light the way for him. The bride-groom is symbolic of Christ and the church is his bride.
As the story goes, the bride-groom was a very, very long time coming. And what a coincidence! 2011 years after the birth of Christ we find Christ’s second coming seems such a long time coming, that many have “fallen asleep”.... The falling asleep is not a problem.... the problem is that when the bride-groom arrives it is in the hours of darkness and we need our lamps to be shining brightly.
Matthew 25:1-13 “ “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
“At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’ “‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’ “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut. “Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’ “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’ “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.”
Oil was used to anoint and is symbolic of the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit that keeps our faith lit.
All ten of the virgins/ bridesmaids had lamps that were lit. When the groom was long in coming some found that they had run out of “oil”... I guess they are those who ran out of faith.
We run out of faith when various things happen and it is different for each individual, but it happens and how is not important. The important thing is to consciously put into place strategies that “keeps the oil flowing”. This is what the wise bridesmaids did. They had the forethought to bring extra oil in a jar.
Therefore, we need to think about what strategies we need in our lives to keep our faith illuminated.
The early Christians would not have been so sure of the hope that they have as Christians, if it wasn’t for the letters from St. Paul. We need to be taught the Gospel truths and then we need to be constantly reminded of them. This is just one way that we keep our faith illuminated. Meeting with other Christians nourishes our spirits and the gifts of the Holy Spirit are shared throughout the community.... we need each other so that we are not lacking in spiritual gifts.
Certainly, if we ignorantly hold on to foreign gods and do not have definite ways of keeping our “lamps” lit (i.e. a community that keeps us on the right track), then we will not even know that we have gone astray from God’s truth and our lamps will go out........... Then when Jesus comes we will awaken and realize our need for our faith...... but will it be too late?
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Reflection on readings 23rd October 2011
Year A Proper 25 23 October 2011
Deuteronomy 34: 1-12 Psalm 90: 1-6, 13-17 1 Thessalonians 2: 1-8 Matthew 22: 34-46
Things that make you go, “Hmmm???” Our readings this week contain some things that grab our attention and leave us with questions. One of these is the question that Jesus asked of the Pharisees. They had been trying to trip Jesus up by asking him questions but he turned the tables on them when he asked his question and left them speechless.
Matthew 22: 41-46 “While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, “What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?”
“The son of David,” they replied.
He said to them, “How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’? For he says, “‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.”’ If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?” No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions.”
Many of the psalms of King David proclaimed prophecy about the Messiah. An interesting thing about Christianity is lack of black and white straight answers. A man made religion has all its beliefs set out clearly, but ours is not a man made religion and so we often struggle to understand. It is only with the gifts that God has given us that we can discern his ways.... which is another reason why it is important to stay connected to others in church.
The question that Jesus poses to the Pharisees deals with a fundamental stumbling block. It is a stumbling block that these people “fell” on and one which is still a stumbling block for many.
It was common knowledge that the Messiah would be a son (descendant) of King David, but Jesus question reveals that the nature of the Messiah was more than a natural descendant. David calling him “Lord” implies that this “son” is above and before King David.
Before we discuss this anymore, let’s look at our Old Testament reading; in this we find the story of Moses being taken up Mt. Nebo to look at the Promised Land. After God has shown Moses the land, Moses dies and he is buried. It is all shrouded in mystery as we discover that although Moses was 12o years old, he was still completely bright and strong. (The moral to the story might be that spending time with God is the best treatment for staying youthful and healthy!).
There is an important statement made about Moses in Deuteronomy 34:10, “Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face,”. We often read that no one could see the face of God and live, and even in our previous readings we read about Moses being put in a cleft in the mountain while God revealed his glory – and the reason was so that Moses didn’t see God’s face – so how is it that it was later said that the LORD knew Moses face to face?
When Jesus walked on earth mankind witnessed the visible expression of the invisible God. The face of God was revealed.
God is so holy that, as we read a few weeks ago, even His very name must be held in the upmost respect. God is so holy that no one can see His face, but it was not God’s plan to be so separated from us. In the beginning God walked with humankind in the Garden of Eden and there was a relationship – a union between the humankind and the creator. Though it was not common, the Old Testament does tell of people who “saw the face of God” and lived, even though it was acknowledged that no one could see His face and live.
Each of these individuals who “walked” with God, are people to whom God revealed his nature and person. They are people with whom God had a personal relationship and they are people who knew God. It seems that in the same way that Jesus was the visible expression of God in the New Testament, this particular revelation of God existed in the Old Testament also.
It could be said that Moses saw God face to face, because God was revealed to Moses. Through that revelation Moses was brought into a personal relationship with God. The revelation of the person of God is the key to a relationship with God and that is where the Pharisees stumbled.
The Pharisees refused to see the “face of God”.
This is a fundamental issue that we all need to examine. There was a song many years ago now, recorded by Joan Osbourne, called, One Of Us. Some of the lyrics were; “ If God had a face what would it look like, and would you want to see, if seeing meant that you would have to believe in things like heaven and the saints and all the prophets?...”
God wants us to see his face. Through Jesus all are invited into this revelation. God wants to be in a personal relationship with us, but we have free will and need to choose.
The Pharisees were given hints to help them realize that the Messiah was not just a descendant of King David, but this Messiah had a divine nature. David called the Messiah his Lord, because he realized this divinity. The Messiah, the son of God, existed from the beginning of creation. It was the son of God who was the revelation of God to Moses and other prophets.
Our relationship with God can be a personal one also, but this can only be accomplished by a revelation of the person of God. In other words, we need to acknowledge who Jesus is.... He is not just a great prophet, a wise teacher, a good and compassionate man.... He is our saviour and our redeemer and He is God.
Deuteronomy 34: 1-12 Psalm 90: 1-6, 13-17 1 Thessalonians 2: 1-8 Matthew 22: 34-46
Things that make you go, “Hmmm???” Our readings this week contain some things that grab our attention and leave us with questions. One of these is the question that Jesus asked of the Pharisees. They had been trying to trip Jesus up by asking him questions but he turned the tables on them when he asked his question and left them speechless.
Matthew 22: 41-46 “While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, “What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?”
“The son of David,” they replied.
He said to them, “How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’? For he says, “‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.”’ If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?” No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions.”
Many of the psalms of King David proclaimed prophecy about the Messiah. An interesting thing about Christianity is lack of black and white straight answers. A man made religion has all its beliefs set out clearly, but ours is not a man made religion and so we often struggle to understand. It is only with the gifts that God has given us that we can discern his ways.... which is another reason why it is important to stay connected to others in church.
The question that Jesus poses to the Pharisees deals with a fundamental stumbling block. It is a stumbling block that these people “fell” on and one which is still a stumbling block for many.
It was common knowledge that the Messiah would be a son (descendant) of King David, but Jesus question reveals that the nature of the Messiah was more than a natural descendant. David calling him “Lord” implies that this “son” is above and before King David.
Before we discuss this anymore, let’s look at our Old Testament reading; in this we find the story of Moses being taken up Mt. Nebo to look at the Promised Land. After God has shown Moses the land, Moses dies and he is buried. It is all shrouded in mystery as we discover that although Moses was 12o years old, he was still completely bright and strong. (The moral to the story might be that spending time with God is the best treatment for staying youthful and healthy!).
There is an important statement made about Moses in Deuteronomy 34:10, “Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face,”. We often read that no one could see the face of God and live, and even in our previous readings we read about Moses being put in a cleft in the mountain while God revealed his glory – and the reason was so that Moses didn’t see God’s face – so how is it that it was later said that the LORD knew Moses face to face?
When Jesus walked on earth mankind witnessed the visible expression of the invisible God. The face of God was revealed.
God is so holy that, as we read a few weeks ago, even His very name must be held in the upmost respect. God is so holy that no one can see His face, but it was not God’s plan to be so separated from us. In the beginning God walked with humankind in the Garden of Eden and there was a relationship – a union between the humankind and the creator. Though it was not common, the Old Testament does tell of people who “saw the face of God” and lived, even though it was acknowledged that no one could see His face and live.
Each of these individuals who “walked” with God, are people to whom God revealed his nature and person. They are people with whom God had a personal relationship and they are people who knew God. It seems that in the same way that Jesus was the visible expression of God in the New Testament, this particular revelation of God existed in the Old Testament also.
It could be said that Moses saw God face to face, because God was revealed to Moses. Through that revelation Moses was brought into a personal relationship with God. The revelation of the person of God is the key to a relationship with God and that is where the Pharisees stumbled.
The Pharisees refused to see the “face of God”.
This is a fundamental issue that we all need to examine. There was a song many years ago now, recorded by Joan Osbourne, called, One Of Us. Some of the lyrics were; “ If God had a face what would it look like, and would you want to see, if seeing meant that you would have to believe in things like heaven and the saints and all the prophets?...”
God wants us to see his face. Through Jesus all are invited into this revelation. God wants to be in a personal relationship with us, but we have free will and need to choose.
The Pharisees were given hints to help them realize that the Messiah was not just a descendant of King David, but this Messiah had a divine nature. David called the Messiah his Lord, because he realized this divinity. The Messiah, the son of God, existed from the beginning of creation. It was the son of God who was the revelation of God to Moses and other prophets.
Our relationship with God can be a personal one also, but this can only be accomplished by a revelation of the person of God. In other words, we need to acknowledge who Jesus is.... He is not just a great prophet, a wise teacher, a good and compassionate man.... He is our saviour and our redeemer and He is God.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Reflection on readings for 9th October 2011
Year A Proper 23 9 October 2011
Exodus 32: 1-14 Psalm 106: 1-6, 19-23 Philippians 4: 1-9 Matthew 22: 1-14
Philippians 4: 1 “Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, dear friends!”
Stand firm! Sounds simply enough, but who among us will do it?
The more that I reflect on the scriptures, the more I’m convinced there are many messages of warnings for the people of God. In our first reading, this week, we find the story of what happened in the Israelite camp while Moses was on the mountain with God, receiving the commandments.
Exodus 32: 1-6 “When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.”
Aaron answered them, “Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.” So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, “These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.”
When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, “Tomorrow there will be a festival to the LORD.” So the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.”
There were two men who stood as leaders of the people of Israel, Moses and Aaron. Moses was the one to whom God appeared and the one called by God, but because Moses was scared, God allowed Moses a helper in the form of his brother Aaron.
The exodus of the people from Egypt was miraculous. God lead his people by a pillar of fire by night and a cloud by day. If it happened to us we’d be awestruck. These people were used to witnessing supernatural occurrences through the religion of Egypt. Every time Moses performed a miracle as testament to the power of God the Egyptians showed a similar miracle, though never to the magnitude of those performed by Moses. This is the reason that it took so many plagues before Pharaoh let the people go, he didn’t hold miracles in such high regard.
Supernatural things happen and people interpret them according to their knowledge. Moses eventually was able to show that his God was stronger and more powerful, but the people of God were tainted with the same religion as the Egyptians, and their hearts were hardened to the way that God had so greatly rescued and provided for them.
We are often the same. We are given so much, we erroneously believe that we deserve all good things and when something doesn’t go our way we become very indignant. We don’t really understand that God is God and not someone that we can tell how, when and what to do. We can not shape God into a form that suits us.
Are we like Moses or like Aaron?
Aaron was approached by the people and they requested/ demanded that he make them a god to go before them as they travelled. Other nations had man made gods and in some way the god defined the nation. The choice of the calf may possibly have been because in some nations the calf was considered the mount for god. Certainly Aaron was not trying to deny God, as the festival was declared at the completion of the “god” was held to honour the LORD – it is written in capital letters to show that Aaron meant this to be a festival to “Yahweh”.
Pressure is also put on us to make “god”. Many of the aspects about God and his laws seem antiquated to general society and they demand that Christians get with the times. Many Christians, maybe even you and I, have been just like Aaron. We want to make God relevant to all people and show how God loves everyone and wants everyone in his kingdom. This is a truth – but does it matter that sometimes we “Put words in God’s mouth”, proclaiming that some of the things that are becoming societal norms are okay by God? We still proclaim the name of the LORD, so, at least in our own eyes and heart, we are not denying God.
Reflect carefully on the actions of Aaron and the actions of our own witness. Aaron was a good guy, a gifted leader, had respect and rapport with the people. His heart was in the right place and he was well meaning, but the result of his actions meant that God would have destroyed the whole Israelite nation except that Moses came to the rescue and begged for God’s mercy.
The message is clear that it is possible to be working for God and really get it so wrong. Unless we stand firm and absolutely steadfast in our commitment to God we will not only be like Aaron who bends to the pressure of societies conventions, but we will also be like the guests of the parable told by Jesus, who became too self seeking to come to the feast in God’s kingdom.
Matthew 22: 4-7“Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’
“But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.”
Are we already like these invited guests? Got better things to do than go to church this weekend? What it boils down to is that we’ve made a god of our own lives. This parable was told to the religious of Jesus day and was directed at them, but it is written and recorded for us.
What God has decided is that those who do not make him their priority do not deserve to be invited to the feast. The feast is an image symbolizing the joyful celebration in heaven at the fullness of time.
Matthew 22; 8-10 “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.”
The good news is that all are gathered in to this holy celebration. There is amazing good news for those who think they are too bad for heaven because we are told that the bad and good were all to be gathered. ..........There is a “but”;
Matthew 22:11-14 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless.
“Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
“For many are invited, but few are chosen.”
It seems curious that all should be gathered, good and bad, but then someone thrown out simply for not wearing the right clothes. Being good or bad was not a deal maker or breaker, but this particular “wedding garment” is.
Joe and I had a wedding where all were welcome. We let people know to simply bring a plate and come along. These days people have to register their parties in case of unwanted gate crashers, but what is the difference between a guest and a gate crasher when there is a wedding where all are welcome?
The difference is whether or not there is a relationship with the person in whose honour the party is being held. All are welcome in the kingdom of God but unless you are “clothed in Christ”, you do not have a relationship with the guest of honour. Jesus is the only way to the father. It is in accepting his sacrifice and being so united in him, and our lives so closely entwined, such that our lives are covered by him that we are clothed in Christ. Christ is our wedding garment.
Unless.......
Unless is a heavy word implying that if certain requirements are not met then there will be an exclusion. And unless accept the sacrifice of Jesus and we stand firm and steadfast in our relationship with God we will be found not deserving of the celebration in heaven.....
Exodus 32: 1-14 Psalm 106: 1-6, 19-23 Philippians 4: 1-9 Matthew 22: 1-14
Philippians 4: 1 “Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, dear friends!”
Stand firm! Sounds simply enough, but who among us will do it?
The more that I reflect on the scriptures, the more I’m convinced there are many messages of warnings for the people of God. In our first reading, this week, we find the story of what happened in the Israelite camp while Moses was on the mountain with God, receiving the commandments.
Exodus 32: 1-6 “When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.”
Aaron answered them, “Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.” So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, “These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.”
When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, “Tomorrow there will be a festival to the LORD.” So the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.”
There were two men who stood as leaders of the people of Israel, Moses and Aaron. Moses was the one to whom God appeared and the one called by God, but because Moses was scared, God allowed Moses a helper in the form of his brother Aaron.
The exodus of the people from Egypt was miraculous. God lead his people by a pillar of fire by night and a cloud by day. If it happened to us we’d be awestruck. These people were used to witnessing supernatural occurrences through the religion of Egypt. Every time Moses performed a miracle as testament to the power of God the Egyptians showed a similar miracle, though never to the magnitude of those performed by Moses. This is the reason that it took so many plagues before Pharaoh let the people go, he didn’t hold miracles in such high regard.
Supernatural things happen and people interpret them according to their knowledge. Moses eventually was able to show that his God was stronger and more powerful, but the people of God were tainted with the same religion as the Egyptians, and their hearts were hardened to the way that God had so greatly rescued and provided for them.
We are often the same. We are given so much, we erroneously believe that we deserve all good things and when something doesn’t go our way we become very indignant. We don’t really understand that God is God and not someone that we can tell how, when and what to do. We can not shape God into a form that suits us.
Are we like Moses or like Aaron?
Aaron was approached by the people and they requested/ demanded that he make them a god to go before them as they travelled. Other nations had man made gods and in some way the god defined the nation. The choice of the calf may possibly have been because in some nations the calf was considered the mount for god. Certainly Aaron was not trying to deny God, as the festival was declared at the completion of the “god” was held to honour the LORD – it is written in capital letters to show that Aaron meant this to be a festival to “Yahweh”.
Pressure is also put on us to make “god”. Many of the aspects about God and his laws seem antiquated to general society and they demand that Christians get with the times. Many Christians, maybe even you and I, have been just like Aaron. We want to make God relevant to all people and show how God loves everyone and wants everyone in his kingdom. This is a truth – but does it matter that sometimes we “Put words in God’s mouth”, proclaiming that some of the things that are becoming societal norms are okay by God? We still proclaim the name of the LORD, so, at least in our own eyes and heart, we are not denying God.
Reflect carefully on the actions of Aaron and the actions of our own witness. Aaron was a good guy, a gifted leader, had respect and rapport with the people. His heart was in the right place and he was well meaning, but the result of his actions meant that God would have destroyed the whole Israelite nation except that Moses came to the rescue and begged for God’s mercy.
The message is clear that it is possible to be working for God and really get it so wrong. Unless we stand firm and absolutely steadfast in our commitment to God we will not only be like Aaron who bends to the pressure of societies conventions, but we will also be like the guests of the parable told by Jesus, who became too self seeking to come to the feast in God’s kingdom.
Matthew 22: 4-7“Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’
“But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.”
Are we already like these invited guests? Got better things to do than go to church this weekend? What it boils down to is that we’ve made a god of our own lives. This parable was told to the religious of Jesus day and was directed at them, but it is written and recorded for us.
What God has decided is that those who do not make him their priority do not deserve to be invited to the feast. The feast is an image symbolizing the joyful celebration in heaven at the fullness of time.
Matthew 22; 8-10 “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.”
The good news is that all are gathered in to this holy celebration. There is amazing good news for those who think they are too bad for heaven because we are told that the bad and good were all to be gathered. ..........There is a “but”;
Matthew 22:11-14 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless.
“Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
“For many are invited, but few are chosen.”
It seems curious that all should be gathered, good and bad, but then someone thrown out simply for not wearing the right clothes. Being good or bad was not a deal maker or breaker, but this particular “wedding garment” is.
Joe and I had a wedding where all were welcome. We let people know to simply bring a plate and come along. These days people have to register their parties in case of unwanted gate crashers, but what is the difference between a guest and a gate crasher when there is a wedding where all are welcome?
The difference is whether or not there is a relationship with the person in whose honour the party is being held. All are welcome in the kingdom of God but unless you are “clothed in Christ”, you do not have a relationship with the guest of honour. Jesus is the only way to the father. It is in accepting his sacrifice and being so united in him, and our lives so closely entwined, such that our lives are covered by him that we are clothed in Christ. Christ is our wedding garment.
Unless.......
Unless is a heavy word implying that if certain requirements are not met then there will be an exclusion. And unless accept the sacrifice of Jesus and we stand firm and steadfast in our relationship with God we will be found not deserving of the celebration in heaven.....
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