Year B Proper 8 1 July 2012
2 Samuel 1: 1, 17-27 Psalm 130 2 Corinthians 8: 7-15 Mark 5: 21-43
When we think about the lives of the early apostles we should quickly realize that being a Christian isn’t about living a “charmed” life. Although there were miracles such as St. Paul not being affected by the snake bite and many other healings, we also read about the intense persecution and know about the bitter end that came to many of the early Christians - including being fed to lions.
With all this in mind we could be inclined to conclude that God does not really care about our earthly sufferings and our sometimes seemingly insignificant grumblings, but this is not true.
Our readings this week re-assure us about God’s care and concern for our cares and concerns no matter how seemingly trivial in comparison to what others may be going through, or have gone through, for the faith.
Our first reading tells us about the death of King Saul and his Son Jonathon. The focus is not so much on these two characters, but on the lament that David insisted every Israelite be taught in the honor of these men. David was cut to the heart over the death of these two. And there is a lot more to this story that what meets the eye.
David had been secretly anointed king, by the prophet, Samuel, while King Saul still reigned. David had been in the king’s service and married to the king’s daughter, however, the King had often tried to kill David. David knew that King Saul’s death meant the beginning of his own reign. Other men may have rejoiced at the fall of their enemy, but not David. David understood that this man had been loved and anointed by God, so even though he was an enemy, he sought at every opportunity to offer the hand of peace and love to Saul, (an honorable example to follow).
Saul’s son, Jonathon, was an heroic warrior and best friend of David. The death of Jonathon was in God’s plan as David would not have been able to take the king ship if the Son of the King, who was so worthy, was alive. Here is the real pain and heart ache.
Jonathon knew and acknowledged that David would be the next king. He was a Godly man and there seems to be no earthly purpose for his death, except that like Jesus, he willingly gave his life so that others might live and God’s good purpose fulfilled.
Our Gospel tells two stories. Jesus is approached by a man to heal his daughter. While he is on his way Jesus is touched by a lady. It may seem that this lady’s needs were insignificant compared to the little girl who was dying. She had been suffering for 12 years from an issue of blood. One could argue that this was just one of those “thorn in the side” type issues…. “Why bother the master”?
Once again, there is so much more to this story than what meets the eye. It would seem that the condition of the lady was that she was having non-stop menstrual bleeding. This meant that she was considered “unclean” and therefore, to touch Jesus involved making him ceremonially “unclean”. It was a huge risk for her to do this, as she could have received punishment for the crime. Obviously she was desperate.
If you are female, perhaps you can imagine the physical condition of the woman…. A 12 year long battle with blood loss would have left her anemic and feeling lethargic. She would not have been able to conceive children and would be excluded from religious ceremonies and celebrations due to her “unclean” status. The obvious hormonal imbalance that must have caused this condition would have left her emotionally very fragile, not to mention the emotional effect of the added pressure of the social isolation due to her condition. We do not know if she had a husband, but one can only imagine how he would have reacted to a wife with this issue…….. It appears she was from a wealthy family as much money had been spent on doctors, but nothing had helped, so we can only imagine what kind of trials and degradation she’d been through in her pursuit for healing. But she was not dying…..
We often think that God does not care about our troubles. Or we may feel selfish in asking for healing and help, when we know that there are others so much worse off than we are. Jesus was not angry at the lady, but instead addressed her as “daughter”… not “woman” or “lady”, but a term of endearment that assumes a relationship of belonging.
Do we feel outcast and alone in our troubles? No one wants to hear our troubles…. So we keep them to ourselves. Sometimes we get tired of hearing our grumblings ourselves, but God does not. If we are hurting then that is simply the fact, and comparisons to others serve no purpose. It does seem that in putting on our brave face and not acknowledging our pain that we are also isolating our deepest and most real self from everyone, including God. We need to know that God does care and does want us to know that he most certainly is concerned for us.
If we continue to swallow and bury our pain, we end up emotionally dead.
Before Jesus reached the house of the little girl, the message came that she had died. This was of no consequence to Jesus. He took the little girl by the hand and spoke to her, telling her to arise.
Some of us may feel that we are dead on the inside and beyond help. Two things we can learn from this story about this. Firstly, there needs to be someone who can ask Jesus for you. That means we, as the body of Christ, need to be the intercessors who refuse to give up. We need to continue to hope, continue to pray and continue to seek God on behalf of others.
Secondly we note that the girl was called back to life with a command to arise… or get up. We need to respond appropriately to the call of God. A call to life is just that, but how many of us are answering the call that God has placed on our lives? If we are not “alive”, perhaps the reason is that we have not responded to the call of God.
I bet you are thinking that you haven’t been called and anointed. But guess again. I remember the poster from years ago that had, in big bold letters, “how do you know that God is calling you?” …and the answer at the bottom of the page……. “You are breathing!”
You may not remember your baptism, but if you get hold of a copy of the service you will discover that you were anointed and called and there are many promises made that require a definite response from you.
2 Corinthians 8:9 “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.”
Jesus has given all so that we could be truly alive and have every good thing that God has to offer us. He is concerned about our whole life…. The little and big troubles… but we also need to respond…. To Arise and walk in our calling.
Friday, June 29, 2012
Monday, May 14, 2012
Reflection for 2oth May 2012
Year B Seventh Sunday of Pascha (Easter) 20 May 2012
Acts 1: 15-17, 21-26 Psalm 1 1 John 5: 9-13 John 17: 6-19
I’ve just looked at this week’s readings and though it is late, I need to write about them.....
I’ve just had a facebook conversation with my niece and I may have well been speaking double Dutch. “Hello there brick wall!!”
It seems very fitting to realize the message for this week. In short, the readings for this week are about passing on the Good News of Jesus Christ.
John 17:13-18 “ “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.”
In this passage from John we read Jesus prayer for us. He prays so that we may have the full measure of his joy within us.
It is a natural tendency to work hard and do hard things to try and feel that we are close to God, but a life that is burnt out, bitter with effort and sad is not what Jesus wants for us. It is, however, understandable.
The passage continues to explain that Jesus has given us the “word” and the world has hated us because we are not of the world. When you live in a world that hates you, you do become somewhat disheartened. In our humanity, most of us will compromise to try and become accepted. This is when ministers get caught out for affairs, or parishioners become involved in cliques and set up their own subset of community which allows and disallows people, to the detriment of the Christian message. We need to pray and not judge, because these things happen because we are human and hurting and desiring acceptance.
Continuing with the prayer of Jesus we find that he prays that we will be kept safe from the evil one. The “fruit” of this evil one is the kinds of things I have just described. For the sake of our human fallible condition Jesus went through a sanctification.... His death on the cross, so that we can be also “made clean and holy”.
One of the interesting things that Jesus prays is that we not be taken out of the world. Be sure that Jesus wants us to be filled with joy, but he does not pray to take us from the world that hates us. Why?
There are two reasons: One is for the same reason that Jesus was sent into the world, to bring people into a relationship with God. The other is to be “sanctified”.
Every now and then the question is pondered in everyone, “What is the purpose of my life?” Well, there it is! How are you going with your purpose in life?
“Sanctified” is a word not often heard outside of religious circles and even within those circles, it is little understood. The online dictionary gives the following definitions:
1. To set apart for sacred use; consecrate.
2. To make holy; purify.
3. To give religious sanction to, as with an oath or vow.
4. To give social or moral sanction to.
5. To make productive of holiness or spiritual blessing.
The word of God is truth and, according to Jesus, we are sanctified by the truth. With this in mind we understand the Psalm:
Psalm 1:1-3 “Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season”
Once again there are two ways that the word of the Lord sanctifies us. When we are familiar and well acquainted with the word of God we become acquainted with truth – which cleanses us from untruth. But also the “Word” of God, Jesus, sanctifies us, because in all our efforts we fall short.
It is most, most important to know the Good News that our sins are washed away because they are covered by the atoning sacrifice of Jesus.
Although we are sanctified by Jesus, what action on our part enables us to be sanctified?
How does it all work? Most of us feel that we have to “do” stuff or act in some specific way to “become holy”. I recently listened to an amazing message that was recorded in 1957, given by Major Ian Thomas, which explains this perfectly.
He explained that we are all subject to a law – gravity. This is much like our humanity which pulls us down and keeps us from freedom in our relationship with God. Jesus sacrifice sets us free from our sin, but we need to accept Jesus, believe in him, have faith in God and, if you like, get on board with him.
Major Ian Thomas explained that to have faith in Jesus and “get on board” with him, is like getting into an aeroplane. The law of aerodynamics sets us free from the law of gravity. Faith in Jesus sets us free from the law of sin – Faith in the word of God sanctifies us – cleanses us from unholiness.
Another point that Major Ian Thomas made was that if you cease to be in the aeroplane and jump out, gravity takes effect !!! The moral to the story being that we need to remain connected to Christ.
1 John 5:11-13 “And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.”
If we are “on board” with Jesus we have life!... eternal life!! But if we are not on board we do not have life.
This brings me back to my conversation with my niece. She has informed us that she isn’t a Christian and doesn’t believe in all that stuff. Now, let me explain that this is a family who go to church weekly and religion is very much part of the ancestral and national culture, as both parents are Maltese, and I read that 98% of Malta is Catholic and very devout.
My niece has also had 11 years of Catholic school education. What has gone wrong?
Have you ever known people who have a passion for something that they’ve never done? For example, there are people who are interested in aeroplanes and study all about anything to do with them. They know all the different kinds and what the various features are, but they’ve never been in one.
Many people have called it the 18inches journey. Apparently that is the approximate distance from your head to your heart. Many people study, or slightly dabble in theology – the study of God, but not as many actually put their whole life in His hands.
This is what we are called to do, put our WHOLE life in God’s hands – get “on board”. No need to get all our theology in line when you have a personal relationship with the real deal. The thing we often forget is that Jesus rose from the dead. He walked and talked and ate. He ascended into heaven – but he didn’t die again – He is alive still and can and does communicate with his people.
Our first reading from acts tells about the choosing of an apostle to take the place of Judas. It is explained that this needed to be someone who had been with them and was witness to all that happened from the baptism of John right through to the resurrection and ascension. Where are the apostles today? An apostle is a first hand witness of Jesus. Not just someone who retells the story. People who dabble in theology and then just retell the story with their own personal spin do great damage!!!
In the year 2012 we need people who have experienced and known Jesus first hand, to be His witnesses. And the Good News is that we can have these apostles and may even be called to be one ourselves. Each of us has the potential to be an apostle of Christ – a first hand witness, but first we have to know Jesus first hand. We do this by having complete faith in him and placing our whole life in his hands. His will is to be in first hand relationships with us. What is your will?
Acts 1: 15-17, 21-26 Psalm 1 1 John 5: 9-13 John 17: 6-19
I’ve just looked at this week’s readings and though it is late, I need to write about them.....
I’ve just had a facebook conversation with my niece and I may have well been speaking double Dutch. “Hello there brick wall!!”
It seems very fitting to realize the message for this week. In short, the readings for this week are about passing on the Good News of Jesus Christ.
John 17:13-18 “ “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.”
In this passage from John we read Jesus prayer for us. He prays so that we may have the full measure of his joy within us.
It is a natural tendency to work hard and do hard things to try and feel that we are close to God, but a life that is burnt out, bitter with effort and sad is not what Jesus wants for us. It is, however, understandable.
The passage continues to explain that Jesus has given us the “word” and the world has hated us because we are not of the world. When you live in a world that hates you, you do become somewhat disheartened. In our humanity, most of us will compromise to try and become accepted. This is when ministers get caught out for affairs, or parishioners become involved in cliques and set up their own subset of community which allows and disallows people, to the detriment of the Christian message. We need to pray and not judge, because these things happen because we are human and hurting and desiring acceptance.
Continuing with the prayer of Jesus we find that he prays that we will be kept safe from the evil one. The “fruit” of this evil one is the kinds of things I have just described. For the sake of our human fallible condition Jesus went through a sanctification.... His death on the cross, so that we can be also “made clean and holy”.
One of the interesting things that Jesus prays is that we not be taken out of the world. Be sure that Jesus wants us to be filled with joy, but he does not pray to take us from the world that hates us. Why?
There are two reasons: One is for the same reason that Jesus was sent into the world, to bring people into a relationship with God. The other is to be “sanctified”.
Every now and then the question is pondered in everyone, “What is the purpose of my life?” Well, there it is! How are you going with your purpose in life?
“Sanctified” is a word not often heard outside of religious circles and even within those circles, it is little understood. The online dictionary gives the following definitions:
1. To set apart for sacred use; consecrate.
2. To make holy; purify.
3. To give religious sanction to, as with an oath or vow.
4. To give social or moral sanction to.
5. To make productive of holiness or spiritual blessing.
The word of God is truth and, according to Jesus, we are sanctified by the truth. With this in mind we understand the Psalm:
Psalm 1:1-3 “Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season”
Once again there are two ways that the word of the Lord sanctifies us. When we are familiar and well acquainted with the word of God we become acquainted with truth – which cleanses us from untruth. But also the “Word” of God, Jesus, sanctifies us, because in all our efforts we fall short.
It is most, most important to know the Good News that our sins are washed away because they are covered by the atoning sacrifice of Jesus.
Although we are sanctified by Jesus, what action on our part enables us to be sanctified?
How does it all work? Most of us feel that we have to “do” stuff or act in some specific way to “become holy”. I recently listened to an amazing message that was recorded in 1957, given by Major Ian Thomas, which explains this perfectly.
He explained that we are all subject to a law – gravity. This is much like our humanity which pulls us down and keeps us from freedom in our relationship with God. Jesus sacrifice sets us free from our sin, but we need to accept Jesus, believe in him, have faith in God and, if you like, get on board with him.
Major Ian Thomas explained that to have faith in Jesus and “get on board” with him, is like getting into an aeroplane. The law of aerodynamics sets us free from the law of gravity. Faith in Jesus sets us free from the law of sin – Faith in the word of God sanctifies us – cleanses us from unholiness.
Another point that Major Ian Thomas made was that if you cease to be in the aeroplane and jump out, gravity takes effect !!! The moral to the story being that we need to remain connected to Christ.
1 John 5:11-13 “And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.”
If we are “on board” with Jesus we have life!... eternal life!! But if we are not on board we do not have life.
This brings me back to my conversation with my niece. She has informed us that she isn’t a Christian and doesn’t believe in all that stuff. Now, let me explain that this is a family who go to church weekly and religion is very much part of the ancestral and national culture, as both parents are Maltese, and I read that 98% of Malta is Catholic and very devout.
My niece has also had 11 years of Catholic school education. What has gone wrong?
Have you ever known people who have a passion for something that they’ve never done? For example, there are people who are interested in aeroplanes and study all about anything to do with them. They know all the different kinds and what the various features are, but they’ve never been in one.
Many people have called it the 18inches journey. Apparently that is the approximate distance from your head to your heart. Many people study, or slightly dabble in theology – the study of God, but not as many actually put their whole life in His hands.
This is what we are called to do, put our WHOLE life in God’s hands – get “on board”. No need to get all our theology in line when you have a personal relationship with the real deal. The thing we often forget is that Jesus rose from the dead. He walked and talked and ate. He ascended into heaven – but he didn’t die again – He is alive still and can and does communicate with his people.
Our first reading from acts tells about the choosing of an apostle to take the place of Judas. It is explained that this needed to be someone who had been with them and was witness to all that happened from the baptism of John right through to the resurrection and ascension. Where are the apostles today? An apostle is a first hand witness of Jesus. Not just someone who retells the story. People who dabble in theology and then just retell the story with their own personal spin do great damage!!!
In the year 2012 we need people who have experienced and known Jesus first hand, to be His witnesses. And the Good News is that we can have these apostles and may even be called to be one ourselves. Each of us has the potential to be an apostle of Christ – a first hand witness, but first we have to know Jesus first hand. We do this by having complete faith in him and placing our whole life in his hands. His will is to be in first hand relationships with us. What is your will?
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Reflection for Palm Sunday 1st April 2012
Year B 6th Sunday in Lent Palm/Passion Sunday 1 April 2012
Isaiah 50: 4-9a Psalm 31: 9-18 Philippians 2: 5-11 Mark 14:1 - 15:47
Palm Sunday is the week before Easter, where we hear the passion of Jesus being read.... the whole sad story. It begins in triumph with the church singing “hosanna” in the same way as the ancient people did as they welcomed Jesus to Jerusalem riding on a donkey.
“Hosanna” means “God Save now” or “save us now” and although it is a prayer request it had become a proclamation of praise.... like a faith filled statement – a prayer for God to help, yet praise because God is sovereign and we acknowledge him as such and therefore able to save. I wonder if we ever realize this as we say the word ourselves. “God save us now”! – It becomes praise because we know that God has saved us already.
There is so much to be said about such a long reading that we can sometimes just get lost in the familiarity of the story. Something that stuck me as I read the readings was this verse from Isaiah:
Isaiah 50:4 “4 The Sovereign LORD has given me a well-instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed.”
We live in a time of great education. We’ve considered education so important that it is compulsory for our children. So we all have an ability to have a well instructed tongue and an awakened ear. Our tongue is able to pass on truths that we learn by listening and listening involves inner listening to the wisdom of others through the study of other people’s words. The important thing to note about the verse from Isaiah is the purpose of our education, and that is, to sustain the weary.
I was commenting to a friend this morning that our generation is doing a great disservice to our children because we have brought them up to be concerned about their education and career and in doing so taught them to look out for themselves only and their own needs. We wonder why they don’t know how to have successful relationships, but the answer is simple - A relationship requires thinking and caring about the other person before thinking about ones own wants.
Our verse puts learning into perspective. If we have knowledge it is not just for our own benefit, but is for the benefit of others.
We see this important aspect in our second reading also, in St. Paul’s letter to the Philippians;
Phillippians 2:5-8 “In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!”
We discover that not only did Jesus serve others but he endured humiliation for the sake of others. Being crucified meant that Jesus appeared to be a criminal. Can you imagine? Jesus was proclaimed as the messiah and the son of God at his entrance to Jerusalem that week, but was then humiliated in the eyes of all by being crucified as a common criminal. He would have seemed a fraud to so many. For surely, many of these people did not know the full story that we read about Jesus, but would only know of his reputation, and that reputation would now be like that of the disgraced television evangelist.
There are times in our lives when we experience the disgust of people who think that we are too fundamentalist in our beliefs.
We can stay silent and all people will think how nice we are and how easy to get on with, or we can speak out and risk the “hostile stare” – or worse.
The truth about Jesus is not always going to be popular. It wasn’t popular even for Jesus and although we know the eternal salvation that his life brought about, it sure didn’t seem that way to so many of Jesus’ contemporaries.
Jesus was crucified because the truth. He claimed to be the Son of God – the messiah – God incarnate. Although he didn’t say it in those words, we know that the implications of his actions screamed this fact to those who were familiar with the scriptures – the Pharisees and religious. There were really only two logical actions that they could take; believe in Jesus and proclaim him “LORD” or reject him, and that would mean proclaiming him guilty of blasphemy. This is what they did.
Today, these are still our only logical choices. You can’t say that Jesus was a prophet. He was not crucified because he was a prophet.
Mark 14:60-65 “Then the high priest stood up before them and asked Jesus, “Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?” But Jesus remained silent and gave no answer.
Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?”
“I am,” said Jesus. “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
The high priest tore his clothes. “Why do we need any more witnesses?” he asked. “You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?”
They all condemned him as worthy of death. Then some began to spit at him; they blindfolded him, struck him with their fists, and said, “Prophesy!” And the guards took him and beat him.”
These people decided that Jesus was a liar. Have you ever told the truth but no one believed you? It is a horrible feeling and must have been the most humiliating and frustrating thing for Jesus to be so publicly proclaimed as such by his death on the cross.
And so the story continues and we read about the crucifixion of Jesus. While many hurled abuse and scoffed at his lack of power in the light of his previous claims, there was the centurion who witnessed the way that Jesus died and made up his mind that Jesus was indeed the Son of God:
Mark 14:30-39” At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).
When some of those standing near heard this, they said, “Listen, he’s calling Elijah.”
Someone ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down,” he said.
With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.
The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died, he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!”
The evidence of the truth about Jesus was overwhelming and still is, but people will refuse to believe, not because of logic, but because they don’t want to.
The words that Jesus cried out while on the cross, “my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” are a quote from psalm 22. Those who witnessed Jesus death who knew the scriptures should have seen the amazing prophecy being fulfilled by being reminded of this psalm. The psalm describes being mocked for trusting in God and exactly the words that people were saying about Jesus. It also describes his hands and feet being pierced and people casting lots for his clothes. Yet the psalm ends with a proclamation of God’s saving and that this grace of God will be proclaimed to a people yet unborn.
But wait, there is more! There are other prophecies in the scriptures that relate to Jesus and should have been obvious to those familiar with scripture. From our first reading:
Isaiah 50:6-7 “I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting. Because the Sovereign LORD helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore have I set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame.”
At this point in time we have free will. We can freely choose to respond to the truth of Jesus or reject it. Even if we reject the truth, the truth remains. Gravity is a truth that impacts upon us whether we believe in it or not. If we live in denial of this truth we will be hurt.
In the same way, we have an historical man, Jesus. He was crucified because he claimed to be the messiah – the Son of God – God incarnate. He rose from the dead. We can live in denial but the fact remains – and that fact has a huge impact on our lives whether we acknowledge it or not, but one day we will have to face the truth and our instructed tongue will need to proclaim this truth:
Philippians 2: 9 “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
In our hearts most of us say, “Amen” to the truth about Jesus, but do our lives bare witness to the “instruction” and the “learning” that we have or do we live as though we do not believe it? We are given this instruction for the purpose of “sustaining the weary”.... we are meant to pass the instruction on.... A record number of suicides in Mackay in the last week indicate that we need for every believer to really think about our responsibility and respond.....
Isaiah 50: 4-9a Psalm 31: 9-18 Philippians 2: 5-11 Mark 14:1 - 15:47
Palm Sunday is the week before Easter, where we hear the passion of Jesus being read.... the whole sad story. It begins in triumph with the church singing “hosanna” in the same way as the ancient people did as they welcomed Jesus to Jerusalem riding on a donkey.
“Hosanna” means “God Save now” or “save us now” and although it is a prayer request it had become a proclamation of praise.... like a faith filled statement – a prayer for God to help, yet praise because God is sovereign and we acknowledge him as such and therefore able to save. I wonder if we ever realize this as we say the word ourselves. “God save us now”! – It becomes praise because we know that God has saved us already.
There is so much to be said about such a long reading that we can sometimes just get lost in the familiarity of the story. Something that stuck me as I read the readings was this verse from Isaiah:
Isaiah 50:4 “4 The Sovereign LORD has given me a well-instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed.”
We live in a time of great education. We’ve considered education so important that it is compulsory for our children. So we all have an ability to have a well instructed tongue and an awakened ear. Our tongue is able to pass on truths that we learn by listening and listening involves inner listening to the wisdom of others through the study of other people’s words. The important thing to note about the verse from Isaiah is the purpose of our education, and that is, to sustain the weary.
I was commenting to a friend this morning that our generation is doing a great disservice to our children because we have brought them up to be concerned about their education and career and in doing so taught them to look out for themselves only and their own needs. We wonder why they don’t know how to have successful relationships, but the answer is simple - A relationship requires thinking and caring about the other person before thinking about ones own wants.
Our verse puts learning into perspective. If we have knowledge it is not just for our own benefit, but is for the benefit of others.
We see this important aspect in our second reading also, in St. Paul’s letter to the Philippians;
Phillippians 2:5-8 “In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!”
We discover that not only did Jesus serve others but he endured humiliation for the sake of others. Being crucified meant that Jesus appeared to be a criminal. Can you imagine? Jesus was proclaimed as the messiah and the son of God at his entrance to Jerusalem that week, but was then humiliated in the eyes of all by being crucified as a common criminal. He would have seemed a fraud to so many. For surely, many of these people did not know the full story that we read about Jesus, but would only know of his reputation, and that reputation would now be like that of the disgraced television evangelist.
There are times in our lives when we experience the disgust of people who think that we are too fundamentalist in our beliefs.
We can stay silent and all people will think how nice we are and how easy to get on with, or we can speak out and risk the “hostile stare” – or worse.
The truth about Jesus is not always going to be popular. It wasn’t popular even for Jesus and although we know the eternal salvation that his life brought about, it sure didn’t seem that way to so many of Jesus’ contemporaries.
Jesus was crucified because the truth. He claimed to be the Son of God – the messiah – God incarnate. Although he didn’t say it in those words, we know that the implications of his actions screamed this fact to those who were familiar with the scriptures – the Pharisees and religious. There were really only two logical actions that they could take; believe in Jesus and proclaim him “LORD” or reject him, and that would mean proclaiming him guilty of blasphemy. This is what they did.
Today, these are still our only logical choices. You can’t say that Jesus was a prophet. He was not crucified because he was a prophet.
Mark 14:60-65 “Then the high priest stood up before them and asked Jesus, “Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?” But Jesus remained silent and gave no answer.
Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?”
“I am,” said Jesus. “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
The high priest tore his clothes. “Why do we need any more witnesses?” he asked. “You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?”
They all condemned him as worthy of death. Then some began to spit at him; they blindfolded him, struck him with their fists, and said, “Prophesy!” And the guards took him and beat him.”
These people decided that Jesus was a liar. Have you ever told the truth but no one believed you? It is a horrible feeling and must have been the most humiliating and frustrating thing for Jesus to be so publicly proclaimed as such by his death on the cross.
And so the story continues and we read about the crucifixion of Jesus. While many hurled abuse and scoffed at his lack of power in the light of his previous claims, there was the centurion who witnessed the way that Jesus died and made up his mind that Jesus was indeed the Son of God:
Mark 14:30-39” At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).
When some of those standing near heard this, they said, “Listen, he’s calling Elijah.”
Someone ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down,” he said.
With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.
The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died, he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!”
The evidence of the truth about Jesus was overwhelming and still is, but people will refuse to believe, not because of logic, but because they don’t want to.
The words that Jesus cried out while on the cross, “my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” are a quote from psalm 22. Those who witnessed Jesus death who knew the scriptures should have seen the amazing prophecy being fulfilled by being reminded of this psalm. The psalm describes being mocked for trusting in God and exactly the words that people were saying about Jesus. It also describes his hands and feet being pierced and people casting lots for his clothes. Yet the psalm ends with a proclamation of God’s saving and that this grace of God will be proclaimed to a people yet unborn.
But wait, there is more! There are other prophecies in the scriptures that relate to Jesus and should have been obvious to those familiar with scripture. From our first reading:
Isaiah 50:6-7 “I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting. Because the Sovereign LORD helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore have I set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame.”
At this point in time we have free will. We can freely choose to respond to the truth of Jesus or reject it. Even if we reject the truth, the truth remains. Gravity is a truth that impacts upon us whether we believe in it or not. If we live in denial of this truth we will be hurt.
In the same way, we have an historical man, Jesus. He was crucified because he claimed to be the messiah – the Son of God – God incarnate. He rose from the dead. We can live in denial but the fact remains – and that fact has a huge impact on our lives whether we acknowledge it or not, but one day we will have to face the truth and our instructed tongue will need to proclaim this truth:
Philippians 2: 9 “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
In our hearts most of us say, “Amen” to the truth about Jesus, but do our lives bare witness to the “instruction” and the “learning” that we have or do we live as though we do not believe it? We are given this instruction for the purpose of “sustaining the weary”.... we are meant to pass the instruction on.... A record number of suicides in Mackay in the last week indicate that we need for every believer to really think about our responsibility and respond.....
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Reflection on readings 25th March 2012
Year B Fifth Sunday in Lent 25 March 2012
Jeremiah 31: 31-34 Psalm 119: 9-16 Hebrews 5: 5-10 John 12: 20-33
The Psalm begins with a riddle and its answer:
Psalm 199:9 “How can a young person stay on the path of purity?
By living according to your word.
This morning I was thinking of those students from years ago who confronted me with the statement that they didn’t believe in God because their Grandfather had died. I thought of the action I wish I’d taken: I wish I had taken into the class room a perfect flower and asked the class how long the flower would live.
We know that there is a life cycle of birth, growth and death – it is all around us as something very natural and yet when it comes to people dying we can’t accept it. I found the same thing myself. When Joe died, it struck me very strongly that even people who were prepared for the inevitable, (me), could not accept it. It is as though our whole being rejects and cannot compute what we know to be “natural”.
More strongly than ever I believe that God created us to live eternally. It may be an old theological explanation to talk about how it is because of sin that came through Adam that we now die, but it is the only explanation.
Without this explanation of the fundamental consequence of sin, the story of the scriptures makes no sense.
We are nearing the end of the season of Lent. It is a season which is set by the church to remind us of our sinfulness, our need for God and God’s sacrificial gift of eternal life for us.
1. Our sinfulness:
We live in a society where children rarely experience the consequence of their actions. We are conditioned by society to overlook the deeds of children and teenagers because of their youth. We need only to listen to contemporary songs to know that rebellion is glorified as something admirable. We have bred a generation of people who think they can do no wrong, and when things don’t go their way they blame everyone and everything else around them instead of acknowledging their own guilt.
While there has always been an element the “youth being rebellious” and behaving contrary to previous manners throughout generations, I think the difference with now is that there is no “watch dog” to point out the error. In fact, we all try to be “youth” and “cool adults”.
An example of “cool adults” would be of a subject that came up on my school reunion’s facebook page:
One lady posted about her teenage daughter going to parties where they were all drinking alcohol. Other mothers got on and commented about how they buy the drink for their kids and informed her that it is normal and fine. Hmmm… of course I was the unpopular one who said it is illegal.
When we give our kids alcohol and they are underage, we are teaching them to break the law!!!! We are teaching them that they are “okay” and doing nothing wrong when they break the law.
I have known people who were involved in sexual abuse cases who didn’t think they did anything wrong. Eg. She said no, but her body language said yes….. ! They don’t see that they did anything wrong. They don’t see themselves as sinful and they don’t see any need to “repent”.
Our society does not see itself as sinful! And most importantly, we, the people in society do not see ourselves as sinful. Why are there so few people in church? No one can see any need for church. Everyone thinks they can be “good” without it and without God.
2. Our need for God:
Our first reading comes from the prophet Jeremiah at a time when the people had broken the covenant of God. In many ways this ancient group was like our society today. They refused to live God’s way and when they were left to live in the consequences of their actions, many still refused to believe and follow God.
Being taken over by another people and sent to live in exile was a natural phenomenon, and so the people still refused to turn to God. But somewhere in their sadness some did turn to God. There was an element of “Lamenting”. For certain, they became aware that they could not fight these battles in their own strength.
At this time God sent a message of hope:
Jeremiah 31:33 “33 “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the LORD. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.”
Previously God had made a covenant to be the God of the people of Israel and he gave them His law, but the people broke the law.
God knows that we, in our human strength, can’t keep his law, but do we know how unable we are?
It is the New Testament readings that shed light on this subject. There was the Pharisee who prayed in the temple, “I thank you God that I’m not like this sinner…..” and then there is the wonderful passage from Matthew’s Gospel that tells us that even if you have been angry with your brother and had hurled angry words at him you’ve as good as committed murder.
Maybe you are like me. I get into conversations with people and start talking about things that bother me. In the process I don’t necessarily say anything wrong or untrue, but perhaps things that are not my place to say - things that are possibly harmful. Some things do need to be said, but every now and then I get a stab of “something”, which I believe is the spirit of God telling me that I crossed the line and need to shut up. This comes from the promise of God to plant his law in our hearts. It isn’t just a general conscience that we like to think everyone has. Not everyone is awake to the promptings of the Spirit.
Without the Spirit of God we cannot discern what is of God and what is not. We have generations of God’s people in the Bible who can testify to this. WE NEED GOD. Not just to save us from our sin, but to help us to keep his law.
3. God’s sacrificial gift of eternal life:
Our Gospel tells about that grain of wheat which dies. If it dies it bares much fruit. It reminds me that I have one marigold flower in my garden. When that flower dies I can pull the petals off and discover numerous seeds which I will scatter and then have lots of flowers in the future – hopefully.
Jesus was talking about his own life. The purpose for Jesus’ life was to die as an atoning sacrifice for the sin of humankind.
Jesus was seen as a leader, a good man, a prophet and a threat. Jesus was a threat to the power that was held by the religious leaders at the time. He was a threat to all the powers of evil in the spiritual realm.
I can remember going to youth camps and feeling frustrated as the leaders would say, “God has a wonderful plan and purpose for your life”. I couldn’t see any wonderful things happening. I saw people being exalted to positions of power within the church and community, but I seemed to only ever get myself into trouble. I wrote letters to the paper about issues and received people’s anger. I wrote one letter about the brothel coming to Mackay and had my family telling me that I needed to be quiet and just let people do what they want. I have had blatant lies spread about me and Joe, which cost me at least one job and have had other lies spread about me in the past also. So I’m kind of confused about this “Wonderful plan and purpose”.
I had always felt a calling to preach. After speaking to one speaker I was encouraged to write. Be faithful to that calling in whatever way was in my control and the rest would fall into place….. Still waiting.
Many others would, and have, used events like these, like losing a loved one, lies spread about them and other things, to serve as an excuse to give up on God and church. It does get hard sometimes and I do get despondent, but we have been told that following Jesus does involve “taking up your cross”.
There is a wonderful plan but it isn’t always the way we see it and often won’t be realized as wonderful until we are living in eternity. Even Jesus was really not keen on being a sacrifice.
Hebrews 5: 7-10 “During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek.”
Jesus was perfect and sinless, but he also became perfect – or proved his perfection through obedience to God’s plan for his life.
If we don’t understand or accept the truth of God’s plan we can not accept that our saviour had to die for us. If we don’t understand this we will not truly grasp the eternal salvation that he has gifted us with.
In many ways, even when we do accept the message of God, we still find its truth beyond our comprehension. We really do need the help of the Holy Spirit and this new covenant where God writes his law in our minds and hearts. And this new covenant could only come into being through this death and resurrection of Christ and his gift of the Holy Spirit.
When the going gets tough, St John’s Gospel tells us that:
John 12:26-28 “Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.
“Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!”
Jeremiah 31: 31-34 Psalm 119: 9-16 Hebrews 5: 5-10 John 12: 20-33
The Psalm begins with a riddle and its answer:
Psalm 199:9 “How can a young person stay on the path of purity?
By living according to your word.
This morning I was thinking of those students from years ago who confronted me with the statement that they didn’t believe in God because their Grandfather had died. I thought of the action I wish I’d taken: I wish I had taken into the class room a perfect flower and asked the class how long the flower would live.
We know that there is a life cycle of birth, growth and death – it is all around us as something very natural and yet when it comes to people dying we can’t accept it. I found the same thing myself. When Joe died, it struck me very strongly that even people who were prepared for the inevitable, (me), could not accept it. It is as though our whole being rejects and cannot compute what we know to be “natural”.
More strongly than ever I believe that God created us to live eternally. It may be an old theological explanation to talk about how it is because of sin that came through Adam that we now die, but it is the only explanation.
Without this explanation of the fundamental consequence of sin, the story of the scriptures makes no sense.
We are nearing the end of the season of Lent. It is a season which is set by the church to remind us of our sinfulness, our need for God and God’s sacrificial gift of eternal life for us.
1. Our sinfulness:
We live in a society where children rarely experience the consequence of their actions. We are conditioned by society to overlook the deeds of children and teenagers because of their youth. We need only to listen to contemporary songs to know that rebellion is glorified as something admirable. We have bred a generation of people who think they can do no wrong, and when things don’t go their way they blame everyone and everything else around them instead of acknowledging their own guilt.
While there has always been an element the “youth being rebellious” and behaving contrary to previous manners throughout generations, I think the difference with now is that there is no “watch dog” to point out the error. In fact, we all try to be “youth” and “cool adults”.
An example of “cool adults” would be of a subject that came up on my school reunion’s facebook page:
One lady posted about her teenage daughter going to parties where they were all drinking alcohol. Other mothers got on and commented about how they buy the drink for their kids and informed her that it is normal and fine. Hmmm… of course I was the unpopular one who said it is illegal.
When we give our kids alcohol and they are underage, we are teaching them to break the law!!!! We are teaching them that they are “okay” and doing nothing wrong when they break the law.
I have known people who were involved in sexual abuse cases who didn’t think they did anything wrong. Eg. She said no, but her body language said yes….. ! They don’t see that they did anything wrong. They don’t see themselves as sinful and they don’t see any need to “repent”.
Our society does not see itself as sinful! And most importantly, we, the people in society do not see ourselves as sinful. Why are there so few people in church? No one can see any need for church. Everyone thinks they can be “good” without it and without God.
2. Our need for God:
Our first reading comes from the prophet Jeremiah at a time when the people had broken the covenant of God. In many ways this ancient group was like our society today. They refused to live God’s way and when they were left to live in the consequences of their actions, many still refused to believe and follow God.
Being taken over by another people and sent to live in exile was a natural phenomenon, and so the people still refused to turn to God. But somewhere in their sadness some did turn to God. There was an element of “Lamenting”. For certain, they became aware that they could not fight these battles in their own strength.
At this time God sent a message of hope:
Jeremiah 31:33 “33 “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the LORD. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.”
Previously God had made a covenant to be the God of the people of Israel and he gave them His law, but the people broke the law.
God knows that we, in our human strength, can’t keep his law, but do we know how unable we are?
It is the New Testament readings that shed light on this subject. There was the Pharisee who prayed in the temple, “I thank you God that I’m not like this sinner…..” and then there is the wonderful passage from Matthew’s Gospel that tells us that even if you have been angry with your brother and had hurled angry words at him you’ve as good as committed murder.
Maybe you are like me. I get into conversations with people and start talking about things that bother me. In the process I don’t necessarily say anything wrong or untrue, but perhaps things that are not my place to say - things that are possibly harmful. Some things do need to be said, but every now and then I get a stab of “something”, which I believe is the spirit of God telling me that I crossed the line and need to shut up. This comes from the promise of God to plant his law in our hearts. It isn’t just a general conscience that we like to think everyone has. Not everyone is awake to the promptings of the Spirit.
Without the Spirit of God we cannot discern what is of God and what is not. We have generations of God’s people in the Bible who can testify to this. WE NEED GOD. Not just to save us from our sin, but to help us to keep his law.
3. God’s sacrificial gift of eternal life:
Our Gospel tells about that grain of wheat which dies. If it dies it bares much fruit. It reminds me that I have one marigold flower in my garden. When that flower dies I can pull the petals off and discover numerous seeds which I will scatter and then have lots of flowers in the future – hopefully.
Jesus was talking about his own life. The purpose for Jesus’ life was to die as an atoning sacrifice for the sin of humankind.
Jesus was seen as a leader, a good man, a prophet and a threat. Jesus was a threat to the power that was held by the religious leaders at the time. He was a threat to all the powers of evil in the spiritual realm.
I can remember going to youth camps and feeling frustrated as the leaders would say, “God has a wonderful plan and purpose for your life”. I couldn’t see any wonderful things happening. I saw people being exalted to positions of power within the church and community, but I seemed to only ever get myself into trouble. I wrote letters to the paper about issues and received people’s anger. I wrote one letter about the brothel coming to Mackay and had my family telling me that I needed to be quiet and just let people do what they want. I have had blatant lies spread about me and Joe, which cost me at least one job and have had other lies spread about me in the past also. So I’m kind of confused about this “Wonderful plan and purpose”.
I had always felt a calling to preach. After speaking to one speaker I was encouraged to write. Be faithful to that calling in whatever way was in my control and the rest would fall into place….. Still waiting.
Many others would, and have, used events like these, like losing a loved one, lies spread about them and other things, to serve as an excuse to give up on God and church. It does get hard sometimes and I do get despondent, but we have been told that following Jesus does involve “taking up your cross”.
There is a wonderful plan but it isn’t always the way we see it and often won’t be realized as wonderful until we are living in eternity. Even Jesus was really not keen on being a sacrifice.
Hebrews 5: 7-10 “During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek.”
Jesus was perfect and sinless, but he also became perfect – or proved his perfection through obedience to God’s plan for his life.
If we don’t understand or accept the truth of God’s plan we can not accept that our saviour had to die for us. If we don’t understand this we will not truly grasp the eternal salvation that he has gifted us with.
In many ways, even when we do accept the message of God, we still find its truth beyond our comprehension. We really do need the help of the Holy Spirit and this new covenant where God writes his law in our minds and hearts. And this new covenant could only come into being through this death and resurrection of Christ and his gift of the Holy Spirit.
When the going gets tough, St John’s Gospel tells us that:
John 12:26-28 “Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.
“Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!”
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Reflection for 18th March 2012
Year B Fourth Sunday in Lent 18 March 2012
Numbers 21: 4-9 Psalm 107: 1-3, 17-22 Ephesians 2: 1-10 John 3: 14-21
This weekend we will all become aware that it is St. Patrick’s Day, and even those who have no Irish heritage will celebrate the good stuff of celebration and a little silliness. The playful silliness has become synonymous with the Irish culture and the deliberate way of putting things back to front for the sake of humorous relief, is sometimes light and playful and sometimes to point out the ridiculous in our normal seriousness.
While we may think of it as Irish, this putting things in a somewhat “back to front” fashion, it is a feature that we can often see throughout the scriptures.
In our first reading we see the first example of what seems to be a strange and back to front way of dealing with a people who are grumbling and disobedient. Moses had led the people out into the desert. God had rescued them from their slavery in Egypt, but I am guessing that they felt it was a case of “out of the frying pan and into the fire”. In the desert things were not pleasant. Although God had provided food for them, it was limited and there was a lack of water and certainly no crops for them to harvest and make bread from. So the people grumbled against God.
What would you do if you were God in this circumstance?
Now God does something very odd, and sends poisonous snakes into the Israelite camp. Many of the people were bitten and died, but instead of grumbling again, they actually realise that this is happening because they have sinned against God.
To understand what is happening here we need to go back to the story in Genesis. When Adam and Eve sinned it was through the influence of the serpent. When God sent Adam and Eve out of the garden the serpent was also told that he would slide on his belly and bite the offspring of the woman.
The Israelites immediately recognised the snakes as the physical embodiment of their sin. They knew the story of Adam and Eve and the snake, and in recognizing their sin they appealed to God.
The next part of the story seems even more back to front. God instructs Moses to make a replica of a snake and put it on a pole. When the people were bitten they could look at the replica and they would live. It was as simple as that. No potions, no sacrifices or strange and difficult demands.....
It always seemed odd to me that God didn’t make some symbol of himself that the people would look to and be saved – instead it was a symbol and a reminder of their sin. Not just their sin while they were there in the desert grumbling, but it was a symbol of the sin of the human race from the time of Adam and Eve. To look at the replica of the snake was like an acknowledgement of both personal sin and the sin of the whole community and race.
We need to fully comprehend what is happening in this story because when we do we will understand the life and sacrifice of Jesus a lot better.
Jesus was the perfect man who did no wrong. The bronze replica of the snake didn’t bite anyone. The snake looked like those that did cause death, and Jesus looked like a normal human –and the only kind of human we know, are those who are less than perfect – and we call all who are less than perfect, sinners.
Even though in Jesus there was no sin, he was the replica of those who do sin. Jesus was emersed in our sin - the same sin as the bronze snake – both the personal and the community and that of the human race. ...and he took that sin to the cross where the debt for sin – which is death and separation from God, was paid for.
Our Gospel reading tells us:
John 3:14,15 “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”
The people only needed to look at the bronze snake and they were healed. We need only believe and we are blessed with eternal life.
The Gospel of John goes on to explain that if we believe we are not condemned, but those who don’t believe are condemned already. I feel that this needs to be emphasised. Maybe, it is not God that gets things back to front, but we are the ones who get things out of order.
There are two issues of concern. One is that we realise our responsibility in our need for the saving grace of God.
We often see children blaming the teachers for giving them a detention. Especially in the case of teenagers, they will label those teachers with names that I can not repeat. The truth of the matter is that the teacher is not responsible for the detention, but the student. Parents will often fall into this trap too. The child gets into trouble for doing something wrong and both the parents and children see the punishment as something the parent is responsible for. We need to teach our children that their actions are the cause of the unpleasant punishment and not the parents and not the teachers.
We do our kids a great disservice if we do not teach them their own responsibility. If they don’t understand that they are responsible for their actions they won’t understand their need for God.
The other issue of concern is that many Christians feel they we are still condemned by our sin when we are not. That is, we don’t fully comprehend that when we have turned to God we are completely restored.
God has saved the world through the gift of the sacrifice of Jesus. This is the good relationship which exists and in this relationship there is no condemnation, but the saving grace exists under the banner of a relationship. If a person chooses not to have a relationship with God then they are freely choosing not to look to that which can save them. But if we do look to God we are completely saved.
In St. Paul’s letter he explains:
Ephesians 2:1-5: “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.”
When the Israelites were in the desert and the snakes bit them they looked to the bronze snake on the pole and were saved - End of story. By looking at the snake they were recognizing their sin and their need for God. This is all that God requires for us to be saved. Jesus didn’t come into the world to condemn it, but to save it. It is God’s will that everyone be saved and he goes as far as sacrificing himself to achieve this. But we have free will.... and we need to freely choose to look to him.
Numbers 21: 4-9 Psalm 107: 1-3, 17-22 Ephesians 2: 1-10 John 3: 14-21
This weekend we will all become aware that it is St. Patrick’s Day, and even those who have no Irish heritage will celebrate the good stuff of celebration and a little silliness. The playful silliness has become synonymous with the Irish culture and the deliberate way of putting things back to front for the sake of humorous relief, is sometimes light and playful and sometimes to point out the ridiculous in our normal seriousness.
While we may think of it as Irish, this putting things in a somewhat “back to front” fashion, it is a feature that we can often see throughout the scriptures.
In our first reading we see the first example of what seems to be a strange and back to front way of dealing with a people who are grumbling and disobedient. Moses had led the people out into the desert. God had rescued them from their slavery in Egypt, but I am guessing that they felt it was a case of “out of the frying pan and into the fire”. In the desert things were not pleasant. Although God had provided food for them, it was limited and there was a lack of water and certainly no crops for them to harvest and make bread from. So the people grumbled against God.
What would you do if you were God in this circumstance?
Now God does something very odd, and sends poisonous snakes into the Israelite camp. Many of the people were bitten and died, but instead of grumbling again, they actually realise that this is happening because they have sinned against God.
To understand what is happening here we need to go back to the story in Genesis. When Adam and Eve sinned it was through the influence of the serpent. When God sent Adam and Eve out of the garden the serpent was also told that he would slide on his belly and bite the offspring of the woman.
The Israelites immediately recognised the snakes as the physical embodiment of their sin. They knew the story of Adam and Eve and the snake, and in recognizing their sin they appealed to God.
The next part of the story seems even more back to front. God instructs Moses to make a replica of a snake and put it on a pole. When the people were bitten they could look at the replica and they would live. It was as simple as that. No potions, no sacrifices or strange and difficult demands.....
It always seemed odd to me that God didn’t make some symbol of himself that the people would look to and be saved – instead it was a symbol and a reminder of their sin. Not just their sin while they were there in the desert grumbling, but it was a symbol of the sin of the human race from the time of Adam and Eve. To look at the replica of the snake was like an acknowledgement of both personal sin and the sin of the whole community and race.
We need to fully comprehend what is happening in this story because when we do we will understand the life and sacrifice of Jesus a lot better.
Jesus was the perfect man who did no wrong. The bronze replica of the snake didn’t bite anyone. The snake looked like those that did cause death, and Jesus looked like a normal human –and the only kind of human we know, are those who are less than perfect – and we call all who are less than perfect, sinners.
Even though in Jesus there was no sin, he was the replica of those who do sin. Jesus was emersed in our sin - the same sin as the bronze snake – both the personal and the community and that of the human race. ...and he took that sin to the cross where the debt for sin – which is death and separation from God, was paid for.
Our Gospel reading tells us:
John 3:14,15 “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”
The people only needed to look at the bronze snake and they were healed. We need only believe and we are blessed with eternal life.
The Gospel of John goes on to explain that if we believe we are not condemned, but those who don’t believe are condemned already. I feel that this needs to be emphasised. Maybe, it is not God that gets things back to front, but we are the ones who get things out of order.
There are two issues of concern. One is that we realise our responsibility in our need for the saving grace of God.
We often see children blaming the teachers for giving them a detention. Especially in the case of teenagers, they will label those teachers with names that I can not repeat. The truth of the matter is that the teacher is not responsible for the detention, but the student. Parents will often fall into this trap too. The child gets into trouble for doing something wrong and both the parents and children see the punishment as something the parent is responsible for. We need to teach our children that their actions are the cause of the unpleasant punishment and not the parents and not the teachers.
We do our kids a great disservice if we do not teach them their own responsibility. If they don’t understand that they are responsible for their actions they won’t understand their need for God.
The other issue of concern is that many Christians feel they we are still condemned by our sin when we are not. That is, we don’t fully comprehend that when we have turned to God we are completely restored.
God has saved the world through the gift of the sacrifice of Jesus. This is the good relationship which exists and in this relationship there is no condemnation, but the saving grace exists under the banner of a relationship. If a person chooses not to have a relationship with God then they are freely choosing not to look to that which can save them. But if we do look to God we are completely saved.
In St. Paul’s letter he explains:
Ephesians 2:1-5: “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.”
When the Israelites were in the desert and the snakes bit them they looked to the bronze snake on the pole and were saved - End of story. By looking at the snake they were recognizing their sin and their need for God. This is all that God requires for us to be saved. Jesus didn’t come into the world to condemn it, but to save it. It is God’s will that everyone be saved and he goes as far as sacrificing himself to achieve this. But we have free will.... and we need to freely choose to look to him.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
ASH WEDNESDAY
In what way are our Christian Churches like the "Emperor's new clothes"?
I went to an Anglican service in the city of Brisbane for Ash Wednesday. I hate that people sometimes text and check their phones when at a church service... I think it is rude, but this time it was me who wanted to text. I was going to text our north Queensland Bishop and ask him to let his buddies in South Queensland know that God understands modern English language. You see, the whole service was in old English.... and they wonder why our churches are empty.......!!!!
I have driven past a number of beautiful church buildings in Brisbane. The ones that stand out are those that have be sold into the marketplace and are operating as restaurants and night clubs.
Only in the Christian church is there an ignorance of the charm and beauty of these structures. The world outside recognises, not just the structural beauty but the essence of something spiritual and even mystical which gives them even greater charm. This element is brought about by years of prayers, tears and laughter, love and communion with God in all the various experiences. Some how these soak into the very structure and make the building "holy". The church may have a ceremony to decommission it and secularize it, but it has been made holy by the years of faithful people and this doesn't go away.... just as a Bible or structure, only really becomes "holy" or "Sacred" when it is combined with the human element and there is some kind of union which changes both. Without this union, the building is no more than a structure and the Holy Bible is simply words on a page.
In the church over the last few years there is a catch phrase bandied around.... "New Expressions". It can take any form, but lately I hear it referred to as "House church" - a way of having and being church in people's houses. NEWS FLASH.... this is not something new - generally people call it a Bible Study!!!!
New expressions is meant to be a way of evangelising the modern people. The reason for the "House church" is that there is this crazy idea that people are not comfortable in a church building..... Hmmmm.... I observe that the secular masses are actually acting in contrary to this belief. The old churches (operating as secular businesses) are busier than their non "church building" counterparts, due to the X factor, (spiritual element) which actually draws the people to them.
HOW STUPID AND IGNORANT are we that we think we can make a business decision about a church and decommission it because of lack of attendees.... and instead promote "House Church"? If we can't draw people to the church building, which has proven to hold incredible charm and drawing power, what makes us think we can draw people into a "House Church", where the only thing we are depending on is our own charm......???? It would seem to me, the church building is not the problem and reason that people are not attending..... the problem is us!
The Emperor was told of a "New" fabric.... he was convinced of its worth and neglected to see the truth. In his stupidity he paraded naked in front of the masses.
There are churches that take on new ideas.... It may be the latest sound gear... the latest style of music. This may seem to work. But there is a saying, "There was a lion in the jungle roaring and a rabbit who heard him enquired why. The Lion explained that he is king of the jungle because he advertises. So the rabbit gave it a try, but his roar was just a squeak. A hungry wolf heard the squeak and ate him. The moral to the story is that it doesn't pay to advertise unless you've got the goods."
The same goes for these delightful city churches that hire musicians who are not even Christians to perform exquisite choral works. How belittling to the "ministry" of music to think that someone who is not Christian - no matter how good, can possibly minister the spirit of God.
We can take on any church pattern or plan, but unless we have the "goods", it will all lead to nothing.
What is the "goods"? The "goods" is the Spirit of God.
Jesus didn't choose perfect disciples to be his apostles. Many think that people in the church are not to be in leadership until they've proven themselves perfect. This is the first thread in the Emperor's new clothes. A perfect and indefinable characteristic that draws a crowd. Con men do that!
We are not to be con men and do not have to be anything that we are not.
Do we speak Old English? No we don't. So to do so would be one of the threads of that ridiculous Emperor's outfit.
The main requirement is the Spirit of God. The secondary requirement is the calling of God to that purpose.
We need to be genuine and we need to be real.
It is true that we are a diverse people, but we can easily discern what is real and relatable. Firstly we need to relax and be assured by the words of scripture which reassure us that we have been given every necessary gift by God to achieve His purpose.
What language should we use and what style of music..... Surely it should be the same that we genuinely use when not at church. If in doubt - watch television - listen to advertisements and you will realise that there are no pipe organs and no "thees" and "thous".
A church that uses any "fabulous" new idea or "fabulous" old idea simply because they've been told that it is THE way to do things is a foolish Emperor parading naked. Not only will that church be laughed at, but ridiculed and scoffed for their hypocrisy.
I went to an Anglican service in the city of Brisbane for Ash Wednesday. I hate that people sometimes text and check their phones when at a church service... I think it is rude, but this time it was me who wanted to text. I was going to text our north Queensland Bishop and ask him to let his buddies in South Queensland know that God understands modern English language. You see, the whole service was in old English.... and they wonder why our churches are empty.......!!!!
I have driven past a number of beautiful church buildings in Brisbane. The ones that stand out are those that have be sold into the marketplace and are operating as restaurants and night clubs.
Only in the Christian church is there an ignorance of the charm and beauty of these structures. The world outside recognises, not just the structural beauty but the essence of something spiritual and even mystical which gives them even greater charm. This element is brought about by years of prayers, tears and laughter, love and communion with God in all the various experiences. Some how these soak into the very structure and make the building "holy". The church may have a ceremony to decommission it and secularize it, but it has been made holy by the years of faithful people and this doesn't go away.... just as a Bible or structure, only really becomes "holy" or "Sacred" when it is combined with the human element and there is some kind of union which changes both. Without this union, the building is no more than a structure and the Holy Bible is simply words on a page.
In the church over the last few years there is a catch phrase bandied around.... "New Expressions". It can take any form, but lately I hear it referred to as "House church" - a way of having and being church in people's houses. NEWS FLASH.... this is not something new - generally people call it a Bible Study!!!!
New expressions is meant to be a way of evangelising the modern people. The reason for the "House church" is that there is this crazy idea that people are not comfortable in a church building..... Hmmmm.... I observe that the secular masses are actually acting in contrary to this belief. The old churches (operating as secular businesses) are busier than their non "church building" counterparts, due to the X factor, (spiritual element) which actually draws the people to them.
HOW STUPID AND IGNORANT are we that we think we can make a business decision about a church and decommission it because of lack of attendees.... and instead promote "House Church"? If we can't draw people to the church building, which has proven to hold incredible charm and drawing power, what makes us think we can draw people into a "House Church", where the only thing we are depending on is our own charm......???? It would seem to me, the church building is not the problem and reason that people are not attending..... the problem is us!
The Emperor was told of a "New" fabric.... he was convinced of its worth and neglected to see the truth. In his stupidity he paraded naked in front of the masses.
There are churches that take on new ideas.... It may be the latest sound gear... the latest style of music. This may seem to work. But there is a saying, "There was a lion in the jungle roaring and a rabbit who heard him enquired why. The Lion explained that he is king of the jungle because he advertises. So the rabbit gave it a try, but his roar was just a squeak. A hungry wolf heard the squeak and ate him. The moral to the story is that it doesn't pay to advertise unless you've got the goods."
The same goes for these delightful city churches that hire musicians who are not even Christians to perform exquisite choral works. How belittling to the "ministry" of music to think that someone who is not Christian - no matter how good, can possibly minister the spirit of God.
We can take on any church pattern or plan, but unless we have the "goods", it will all lead to nothing.
What is the "goods"? The "goods" is the Spirit of God.
Jesus didn't choose perfect disciples to be his apostles. Many think that people in the church are not to be in leadership until they've proven themselves perfect. This is the first thread in the Emperor's new clothes. A perfect and indefinable characteristic that draws a crowd. Con men do that!
We are not to be con men and do not have to be anything that we are not.
Do we speak Old English? No we don't. So to do so would be one of the threads of that ridiculous Emperor's outfit.
The main requirement is the Spirit of God. The secondary requirement is the calling of God to that purpose.
We need to be genuine and we need to be real.
It is true that we are a diverse people, but we can easily discern what is real and relatable. Firstly we need to relax and be assured by the words of scripture which reassure us that we have been given every necessary gift by God to achieve His purpose.
What language should we use and what style of music..... Surely it should be the same that we genuinely use when not at church. If in doubt - watch television - listen to advertisements and you will realise that there are no pipe organs and no "thees" and "thous".
A church that uses any "fabulous" new idea or "fabulous" old idea simply because they've been told that it is THE way to do things is a foolish Emperor parading naked. Not only will that church be laughed at, but ridiculed and scoffed for their hypocrisy.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Reflection for the 12th February 2012 6th Sunday after Epiphany year B
Year B Sixth Sunday after Epiphany 12 February 2012
2 Kings 5: 1-14 Psalm 30 1 Corinthians 9: 24-27 Mark 1: 40-45
This week we have two stories about people infected with Leprosy. Leprosy in the Bible referred to many skin conditions and so we can’t know exactly to what extent the lepers in the two readings were affected, but in the very least, this was a condition that limited the person’s ability to live a normal life.
Today we understand Leprosy to be a bacterial infection that causes skin problems, muscle weakens – but most importantly affects the nervous system and the leper’s ability to feel pain.
Many years ago it was thought that leprosy caused flesh to rot and limbs to fall off, but these occurrences were due to the leper not being able to feel. Without the sensation of pain the leper would rest their foot on hot coals without realizing or lean their hand on sharp objects. Without the sensation of pain, the wounds were ignored and complications set in.
We can be like the lepers at times. Our spiritual nervous system becomes impaired when we neglect to nurture it.
Like the leper, if we have this spiritual leprosy, we are unable to even sense our spiritual sickness because we simply do not feel it. There is nothing pricking our consciences because we have become numb to such things.
In each of our stories the lepers were aware and bothered by their leprosy. They lived in a climate that didn’t tolerate leprosy. Due to the lack of sensation the leper may not notice his condition, but those around were quick to point it out and then they became outcast. They certainly were made acutely aware of their need for God’s healing.
In our first reading Naaman, a commander in the army of Aram had leprosy. An Israelite servant girl who had been captured by one of their raiding teams suggested that he go to see the prophet in Israel and “he” would cure him. This is our first little evangelist. She did a great job, but did get it a little wrong because it wasn’t the prophet who can heal, but only God.
Naaman goes to see the prophet but the prophet sends a messenger to tell Naaman to wash seven times in the river Jordon. Naaman is insulted because the prophet didn’t even come out to him and sees the act of washing seven times in the river Jordon as ridiculous.
It really wasn’t such a hard thing, but why the river Jordon? And Naaman angrily suggests that other rivers are just as good – if not better.
Many people today will write on a census form that they are Christian. They don’t attend any church however, and don’t believe that you have to attend church to be a Christian. These people have spiritual leprosy. They are unaware of their condition and they may even attend some meditation class and when getting into spiritual discussions will claim that all religions are basically the same. They will tell you that it doesn’t matter if you are Hindu, Christian or Muslim, Scientologists or new age spiritualist.
This spiritual leprosy is contagious and is so prevalent that society looks at them as being the norm and not as lepers at all. No one seems to feel anything pricking their conscience.... if it makes you happy it can’t be wrong.
Naaman was told to wash seven times in the river Jordon. Figuratively, because this was a land that worshiped the one God – Yaweh, this river is the “river of God”.... not just of any god, but Yaweh. Seven is the number that symbolizes God. Naaman was being shown in a most strong way that his healing would be the work of God and not some prophet. The cure for spiritual leprosy is to be immersed in God.... to be baptized – completely changed by the cleansing of our God of truth.
Our second reading is from St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. In this he talks about running a race. He talks about how you can run aimlessly, but that won’t win you the prize. A serious athlete will train in a specific manner to achieve their purpose – to win.
1 Corinthians 9: 26, 27 “Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.”
An athlete will research what is needed to win the race. They will set themselves a training regime that involves working on strengthening their weaknesses and maintaining and bettering their strengths. They will meditate on what it is that they can do to give themselves an edge over their competitors. They understand that all this will take time, dedication and discipline.
St. Paul urged the Corinthians and us with them, to run our spiritual race as though we intend to win.
I have come across people who, with a sense of worry, have said, “Well, I hope I get into heaven”. These people express a doubt that God really cares about them. Our Gospel reading tells us of the leper who said to Jesus, “If you want, you can make me clean”. The leper was sure of Jesus power, but not sure of God’s love for him. Jesus reassures him and heals him.
One of the biggest obstacles in training to win any prize is our self doubt. If we believe that God doesn’t care for us then we are far less likely to dedicate ourselves to running this spiritual race.
We need to be fully aware that through the gift of Jesus sacrifice on the cross we have already won the race. This is His gift of the assurance of his love. St. Paul knew this, but he knew that many, after accepting God, if they do not dedicate themselves to running the spiritual life like a race, develop spiritual leprosy, where they forget the truth about God and become numb to God.
After healing the leper, Jesus gave him these instructions: Mark 1:44 “See that you don’t tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.”
Naaman had to wash. The other leper had to show himself to the priest and offer sacrifices. Really neither one was instructed to do anything too hard. We also are “set free”, “cleansed” and assured of eternal life, but we too are urged to commit our lives to being joined to the “body of Christ”. We need to put certain things into place, such as regular prayer and Bible study and meetings with other Christians.
There is no hard and fast way to train for this race, but we need to work it out with God and stick to it. I suspect in the freedom that we have and choices, we actually neglect to do anything that resembles a Christian commitment.
If we fail to do this then over time we will become completely oblivious to the fact that we are numb to the promptings of the Holy Spirit and not only will we be ineffective witnesses but we will be maiming ourselves without realizing.... leaning on dangerous philosophies and breaking our lives with disastrous and false beliefs.
2 Kings 5: 1-14 Psalm 30 1 Corinthians 9: 24-27 Mark 1: 40-45
This week we have two stories about people infected with Leprosy. Leprosy in the Bible referred to many skin conditions and so we can’t know exactly to what extent the lepers in the two readings were affected, but in the very least, this was a condition that limited the person’s ability to live a normal life.
Today we understand Leprosy to be a bacterial infection that causes skin problems, muscle weakens – but most importantly affects the nervous system and the leper’s ability to feel pain.
Many years ago it was thought that leprosy caused flesh to rot and limbs to fall off, but these occurrences were due to the leper not being able to feel. Without the sensation of pain the leper would rest their foot on hot coals without realizing or lean their hand on sharp objects. Without the sensation of pain, the wounds were ignored and complications set in.
We can be like the lepers at times. Our spiritual nervous system becomes impaired when we neglect to nurture it.
Like the leper, if we have this spiritual leprosy, we are unable to even sense our spiritual sickness because we simply do not feel it. There is nothing pricking our consciences because we have become numb to such things.
In each of our stories the lepers were aware and bothered by their leprosy. They lived in a climate that didn’t tolerate leprosy. Due to the lack of sensation the leper may not notice his condition, but those around were quick to point it out and then they became outcast. They certainly were made acutely aware of their need for God’s healing.
In our first reading Naaman, a commander in the army of Aram had leprosy. An Israelite servant girl who had been captured by one of their raiding teams suggested that he go to see the prophet in Israel and “he” would cure him. This is our first little evangelist. She did a great job, but did get it a little wrong because it wasn’t the prophet who can heal, but only God.
Naaman goes to see the prophet but the prophet sends a messenger to tell Naaman to wash seven times in the river Jordon. Naaman is insulted because the prophet didn’t even come out to him and sees the act of washing seven times in the river Jordon as ridiculous.
It really wasn’t such a hard thing, but why the river Jordon? And Naaman angrily suggests that other rivers are just as good – if not better.
Many people today will write on a census form that they are Christian. They don’t attend any church however, and don’t believe that you have to attend church to be a Christian. These people have spiritual leprosy. They are unaware of their condition and they may even attend some meditation class and when getting into spiritual discussions will claim that all religions are basically the same. They will tell you that it doesn’t matter if you are Hindu, Christian or Muslim, Scientologists or new age spiritualist.
This spiritual leprosy is contagious and is so prevalent that society looks at them as being the norm and not as lepers at all. No one seems to feel anything pricking their conscience.... if it makes you happy it can’t be wrong.
Naaman was told to wash seven times in the river Jordon. Figuratively, because this was a land that worshiped the one God – Yaweh, this river is the “river of God”.... not just of any god, but Yaweh. Seven is the number that symbolizes God. Naaman was being shown in a most strong way that his healing would be the work of God and not some prophet. The cure for spiritual leprosy is to be immersed in God.... to be baptized – completely changed by the cleansing of our God of truth.
Our second reading is from St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. In this he talks about running a race. He talks about how you can run aimlessly, but that won’t win you the prize. A serious athlete will train in a specific manner to achieve their purpose – to win.
1 Corinthians 9: 26, 27 “Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.”
An athlete will research what is needed to win the race. They will set themselves a training regime that involves working on strengthening their weaknesses and maintaining and bettering their strengths. They will meditate on what it is that they can do to give themselves an edge over their competitors. They understand that all this will take time, dedication and discipline.
St. Paul urged the Corinthians and us with them, to run our spiritual race as though we intend to win.
I have come across people who, with a sense of worry, have said, “Well, I hope I get into heaven”. These people express a doubt that God really cares about them. Our Gospel reading tells us of the leper who said to Jesus, “If you want, you can make me clean”. The leper was sure of Jesus power, but not sure of God’s love for him. Jesus reassures him and heals him.
One of the biggest obstacles in training to win any prize is our self doubt. If we believe that God doesn’t care for us then we are far less likely to dedicate ourselves to running this spiritual race.
We need to be fully aware that through the gift of Jesus sacrifice on the cross we have already won the race. This is His gift of the assurance of his love. St. Paul knew this, but he knew that many, after accepting God, if they do not dedicate themselves to running the spiritual life like a race, develop spiritual leprosy, where they forget the truth about God and become numb to God.
After healing the leper, Jesus gave him these instructions: Mark 1:44 “See that you don’t tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.”
Naaman had to wash. The other leper had to show himself to the priest and offer sacrifices. Really neither one was instructed to do anything too hard. We also are “set free”, “cleansed” and assured of eternal life, but we too are urged to commit our lives to being joined to the “body of Christ”. We need to put certain things into place, such as regular prayer and Bible study and meetings with other Christians.
There is no hard and fast way to train for this race, but we need to work it out with God and stick to it. I suspect in the freedom that we have and choices, we actually neglect to do anything that resembles a Christian commitment.
If we fail to do this then over time we will become completely oblivious to the fact that we are numb to the promptings of the Holy Spirit and not only will we be ineffective witnesses but we will be maiming ourselves without realizing.... leaning on dangerous philosophies and breaking our lives with disastrous and false beliefs.
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