Year C Seventh Sunday of Pascha (Easter) 12 May 2013
Acts 16: 16-34 Psalm 97 Revelation 22: 12-221 John 17: 20-26
How would you feel if you knew that Jesus looked through the tunnel of time, saw you, and specifically prayed for you?
Every now and then, scripture gives us a glimpse of God’s future vision. We glimpse his concern and provision for the people of the future who would align themselves with him.
In this week’s reading we witness Jesus’ prayer for all believers, and he is specific about those who “will believe”, not just those who already do believe. It seems that Jesus was looking through that tunnel of time and he saw you, and he saw me, and he prayed.
Next question that comes to mind is; what do you think Jesus would pray about when he has you in mind? And following on from that question; would it change anything about your actions and priorities if you knew what he prayed?
We find the prayer that Jesus prayed in the Gospel of John:
John 17:20-21 ““My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.””
There are three aspects to this prayer;
1. That all believers may be one,
2. That we may be “in” the Father and the Son,
3. That our unity should be a witness causing others to believe that Jesus is the Saviour.
Looking at the first aspect it is strikingly obvious that mostly, we are not one. And if we travel down to the end result we might also note that people are not flocking to the Church, but the very opposite is true…. We find people are rejecting and repulsed by the notion of church and the reason that most will give for this, is that the Church is full of hypocrites. What they mean by this, is that the people in the church pretend to love one another, but they don’t. Those in the church are actually talking about each other behind their backs and putting each other down, and those outside the church notice.
There are times when the community comes together as one. Those are usually times of great hardship and tragedy, although I think that we, as a community, are even failing in this compared to what once may have been, and the reason would be that there are less and less Christians in the community and our values have become so self-centred that we barely care about others at all.
What we witness is that the climate of society as a whole is a reflection of its members. When there are many Christians that make up society we see a rise in care and concern for the poor, justice and mercy in our courts and general good will towards all.
It has been long acknowledged that we need to grow our churches, as the numbers are growing few. But how can we do this?
We have an interesting reading from Acts this week and we read that St. Paul was in a town where a slave girl, who was possessed by a demon that enabled her to earn her owners money by telling fortunes, was proclaiming that Paul and his companions were servants of the most high God and that they would tell you how to be saved.
The girl was proclaiming the truth.
It struck me as being a bit like those people who feel they have to tell you everything about Christ, assuming that you know nothing and that you need saving. While it is great to have zeal such that you may want to share everything you know about God, we need to be careful that we are not doing the devil’s work by doing just as this girl was doing.
But what was wrong with what she said – everything she said was true?
Yes, but we are told not to worry about what to say because the Holy Spirit will give us the right words at the right time. This girl was speaking truth, but it was not by the Holy Spirit, and I am guessing that the words were inappropriate for the time…. Otherwise St. Paul would have had no need to silence her by casting the demon out in Jesus name.
The Holy Spirit is God, and God is respectful of our free will. It is the kindness of God that leads us to repentance and not the authoritative words that may be well meant but seem to judge and condemn. In fact it is our witness as a true friend that will allow a person to listen to any of our words about God, and it is those actions of a true friend that will speak louder than any word. So what is really needed more than any memorized scripture is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit such that others can see Christ in us, and such that we can sense His promptings.
The second element in Jesus prayer was that we should be “in” the Father and the Son. This is to be indwelt with the Holy Spirit to the extent that we are surrounded by the Spirit and filled with the Spirit. The Spirit testifies about the Son. When we are one with each other and “in” the Father and the Son, the world will believe that Jesus is the Son of God.
It isn’t clever words that bring people to Christ. It isn’t “you beaut” programs, youth groups or children’s services that bring people to Christ. It isn’t superior knowledge or intellect that brings people to Christ.
We can drive ourselves to exhaustion trying to bring people to Christ by striving to be knowledgeable, clever, technologically savvy, having Bible studies, the best music and programs but they will all fail unless we are “in” God and one with each other.
The Gospel of John also tells us in John 17:26 “I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”
Jesus has made the Father known, and will continue to make him known - So we see that even though we know God, we have much more to knowing to do. This reminds me of a clever saying that one of my students told me this week, “I know the one who is you and you know the one who is me, but I don’t know every one of you and you don’t know every one of me.” I don’t know where it came from – she read it in a book, but it illustrates perfectly the relationship we have with God… at least from our perspective – we do know that God knows ALL of us, but we need to continue in knowing him.
Our knowledge of God will never be complete while in this skin, but the Holy Spirit is God. If we are “in” God, we do not need to be concerned about our lack of knowledge but we can trust that the Holy Spirit will continue to teach us.
Our second reading contains exhortation and warning.
Revelation 22:12-13 ““Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”
We can be confused into thinking that we need to do some religious activity, but scripture makes it very clear that these are not what God requires. What he does require, that demands our action, is that we love one another. Religious activity is an easy thing, but loving one another requires a whole greater level of sacrifice.
Christ in us is the only hope of glory. We cannot even do this one thing - to love one another, but if Christ dwells in us through his Holy Spirit, and we can give him the authority to live through us – such that we are “in” him and he “in” us, then he can love through us and in so doing we have hope of being one in Christ. We will then find our churches overflowing with those who’ve come to believe in Jesus because they’ve seen him living through us.
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Thursday, April 25, 2013
A story for Mother's Day when things are not as we might hope!
A LONG WAY FROM ORDINARY by Niki Vella Power
There was stomping and banging coming from the room upstairs.
“Uh-oh,” said Uncle Ben to his 10 year old nephew, Michael, “It sounds like cyclone Lilly has struck again.”
Michael and Lilly were twins…. You may have heard about them. They go to school, just like ordinary 10 year olds, and they catch a bus, just like ordinary 10 year olds, and sometimes they, but mostly Lilly, throw major temper tantrums, like some ordinary 10 year olds.
It is never a very good idea to throw a tantrum because someone always ends up in trouble and sometimes things get broken! Lilly knew this, but for some reason every now and then she just couldn’t seem to help herself and Michael and Uncle Ben would stay out of her way until she calmed down a little.
It was times like these that Uncle Ben called her “Cyclone Lilly”. She caused a lot of mess, just like a real cyclone, and everyone was just a little scared of her.
“What has upset her this time?” Uncle Ben asked Michael.
“I think it has something to do with the new girl at school,” said Michael, “She is a fostered girl and she gets in trouble all the time and for some reason it is making Lilly angry, but I don’t know why.”
The fostered girl’s name was Sarah and she didn’t live with her Mum or Dad, and instead she stayed with other people. She had lived for a long time with a lady by the name of Debbie who had other children, but when Debbie got sick she wasn’t able to look after Sarah anymore and so Sarah then went to live with a lovely couple, the Smiths…. But then when Mrs. Smith had her baby, she decided she couldn’t look after Sarah anymore and so Sarah was then sent to live with the Johnsons, Amy and John, who sent her to the same school as the twins. And that was all that Michael had been able to find out about Sarah.
Things became quiet again upstairs. It seemed that Cyclone Lilly had run out of wind, and after stomping and throwing and punching pillows she was just too worn out to do anything. She was lying on her messed up bed among all the clothes she’d thrown around.
Usually at this stage Lilly would start to clean up the mess she’d made, but this time she was too upset. When Uncle Ben knocked on her door he found her sobbing into her pillow.
“Lilly, I’ve got some hot chocolate for you if you feel like it?” He said, and then when she didn’t respond, he figured she needed some more time alone and so he left her and went downstairs.
Truly, there is something magical about a warm and sweet drink when you are not feeling very happy. By the time that Lilly came down for her hot chocolate it needed to be warmed up, but that was easy enough to do….. a whole lot easier than trying to find out what was making Lilly so sad.
Michael did his usual joke telling to try and lighten the atmosphere, but Uncle Ben knew that something had very seriously upset Lilly and the only way to deal with big hurts is to share them with someone older and wiser….. Uncle Ben was both older and wiser.
“So, Lilly, what has been happening at school?” asked Uncle Ben.
Lilly shrugged her shoulders and continued to sip sadly on her hot chocolate.
“Michael tells me that there is a new girl at school.” Said Uncle Ben, and he could tell by the look on Lilly’s face that this was something to do with the problem. “Is she a nice girl, Lilly? Do you get on okay with her?”
Lilly finally replied, “She’s okay, but the other kids at school are mean to her.”
“Oh?” that surprised Uncle Ben because Michael hadn’t said anything about the kids being mean at school. “Is that true, Michael?” Uncle Ben asked, so that he could confirm the matter.
“Yeah, I guess so,” said Michael, “they tell her that if they were her Mum, they’d leave her with someone else too.”
Lilly’s eyes were filled with tears again and she added, “And they say ‘your mum doesn’t want you’, and things like that.”
“Oh”, said Uncle Ben, suddenly realizing a whole lot more about why Lilly was sad.
You see, Lilly and Michael were living with their Uncle Ben while their parents were away on a secret mission. So, the new girl, Sarah, and Lilly and Michael had something in common, they were all living with someone other than their parents. Every child misses their parents when they are away from them for any length of time, and sometimes they might worry whether or not their parents really do love them. Uncle Ben figured that this was why Lilly was upset. She missed her parents and because the kids at school were saying mean things about poor Sarah’s parents, Lilly was feeling insecure and rather unsure about whether her parents really loved her.
“Lilly and Michael…..”, announced Uncle Ben, “we are going on a trip in the time machine.” He said it like it was a definite command. No questions, ifs or buts.
Uncle Ben had invented the time machine and given it to Lilly for her birthday. It was a very simple and safe version so that nothing could go wrong. You could go back in time to see events that had already happened, but you couldn’t interfere with anything, just simply watch it happen.
Lilly didn’t feel like taking a trip in the time machine as she was just feeling too sad and cranky, but Michael ran up to Lilly’s room and brought the machine down to the kitchen. Uncle Ben set the dial and they all held on to the machine and each other.
Everything went all swirly and made them feel just a bit dizzy, but when the spinning stopped they found themselves at a place called Shiloh where there was a priest called Eli sitting on a chair near the church. He was looking inside at a lady.
Lilly and Michael and Uncle Ben went in very quietly so they could hear what the lady was saying and as they got closer they realized that she was crying.
She cried out to God, “Lord, you rule over all. Please see how I’m suffering! Show concern for me! Don’t forget about me! Please give me a son! If you do, I’ll give him back to you. Then he will serve you all the days of his life.”
She kept praying that kind of thing over and over and crying. Then the Priest came in and said to her, “How long will you keep on getting drunk? Get rid of your wine.”
The Lady replied to him, “That’s not true, sir, I’m a woman who is deeply troubled. I haven’t been drinking wine or beer. I was telling the Lord all of my troubles. Don’t think of me as an evil woman. I’ve been praying here because I’m very sad. My pain is so great.”
Then Eli answered, “Go in peace. May God give you what you have asked him for.”
Then the lady left and so did Michael, Lilly and Uncle Ben.
As they all sat down outside on the grass Lilly asked, “Who was that lady, Uncle Ben?”
“Her name is Hannah,” he replied, “and there is more to her story that we need to look at, but we need to go just a little forward in time to do so”.
Uncle Ben took a packet of chewing gum out of his pocket. “Here, you’d better have one of these because all this time travel might make you feel a bit dizzy. This is a special type of chewing gum I’ve invented to prevent the spinning from making you feel sick.”
They each took a piece of chewing gum and Uncle Ben turned the dial on the time machine once again. They all held on as things started to spin again and chewed on their gum. Just as the swirling cleared Lilly let out a big burp. Michael laughed and as he did a huge burp slipped out of his mouth, which brought on more laughter and then the loudest burp of all came from Uncle Ben.
“Ha, ha, ha, Yep”, laughed Uncle Ben, “the chewing gum works well, but the side effect is a big burp.”
They calmed down and looked around them. They were in the same place as they were before, but some of the trees were a little bigger and outside the church was a boy, about 12 years old, dressed exactly the same as the priest.
“Hey look,” exclaimed Lilly pointing, “there is Hannah!”
Sure enough, there was Hannah and she was walking toward the priest Eli, while the boy raced over and hugged her. Eli met them at the entrance of the church and they saw her give the priest a robe, indicating that it was for the boy.
“What is she doing, Uncle Ben?” asked Michael.
“The boy’s name is Samuel, and he is Hannah’s son,” said Uncle Ben. Just listen to their conversation and see if you can work it out what is happening.”
Hannah’s husband then joined them and the priest put his hand on the husband’s head as if he was praying. Michael and Lilly leaned forward so that they could hear clearly.
Eli closed his eyes and said, “May the Lord give you and your wife, Hannah, children that can take the place of the boy she prayed for and gave to God.”
After this Hannah hugged the boy, Samuel, and then Hannah and her husband set off down the road.
Lilly could see that the boy wanted to cry, but he didn’t. Eli handed the robe to Samuel and Samuel took it into the house that was next to the church.
The children looked at Uncle Ben with wide eyes. Michael asked, “Does Samuel live with Eli, Uncle Ben? Why didn’t they take him home with them?”
Uncle Ben explained, “Samuel sees his mother just once every year and she brings him a new robe, just like the priest’s. Do you remember Hannah’s prayer?”
“Yes,” said Michael, “she prayed for a son.”
“And…” prompted Uncle Ben, “What else did she say in that prayer?”
Lilly answered him very quietly, “She said that if God gave her a son, that she would give the son to God.”
“That’s right,” said Uncle Ben, “and that the son would serve God for all of his life”.
“But, Uncle Ben…..” said Lilly, “Samuel is only a boy, and he obviously misses his mum. I could see that he looked so sad when she left. It’s not fair and it is just too hard.”
At that moment the automatic home function of the time machine started and the swirling this time took them by surprise. They chewed hard on the gum and within a few seconds they found themselves back in their own kitchen. They burped again, but they were feeling too sad to laugh this time.
Uncle Ben flicked the switch on the jug to make another hot chocolate for all of them.
“Michael and Lilly,” he said as they all sat down with their drinks, “you have to understand some things about the story of Samuel. He was no ordinary man. He lived in a time when there were many evil things happening and no one was listening to God, but not long after that event that we saw, God woke Samuel up in the middle of the night and spoke with him. It freaked Samuel out for a little while and he thought that it was Eli calling out to him, because hardly anyone ever heard God speak to them like that. When Samuel grew up he led people in the right way and it was him who anointed the kings of Israel. None of it would have been possible if his mother didn’t keep her promise to give him to God.”
“But he was sad and only a boy a long way from his mother and father…” said Lilly “didn’t she love him and want him with her?”
“Of course she did,” explained Uncle Ben, “but she trusted God and kept her promise. It was hard for her and hard for Samuel, but sometimes it seems that those who have hard things happen to them are those who grow to be the absolutely most extraordinary people, with the most extraordinary lives.”
He added, “Lilly and Michael, your Mum and Dad Love you so much. Don’t ever doubt that. They know that they have a job to do and they know that it is better for you to be here with me. The Bible tells us that all things work for good for those who love God, so we know that even when things are hard, and even down right horrible, in the end, if we stay true to God, those same things can be something that makes us extraordinary people. And do you know why?”
The twins looked at him and both of them with their heads cocked to one side and a frown on their forehead replied, “Why?”
Uncle Ben answered, “Because the God who created the universe loves you more than you can possibly imagine…. Even more than how much you love your mum and dad… and when you are a child of God you are a long, long, way from being just an ordinary kid.”
Finally Lilly smiled. Ah, what a lovely sight. A big grin with twinkling eyes and Uncle Ben knew beyond any shadow of doubt that she was one very special kid…. Even if she did throw temper tantrums!
There was stomping and banging coming from the room upstairs.
“Uh-oh,” said Uncle Ben to his 10 year old nephew, Michael, “It sounds like cyclone Lilly has struck again.”
Michael and Lilly were twins…. You may have heard about them. They go to school, just like ordinary 10 year olds, and they catch a bus, just like ordinary 10 year olds, and sometimes they, but mostly Lilly, throw major temper tantrums, like some ordinary 10 year olds.
It is never a very good idea to throw a tantrum because someone always ends up in trouble and sometimes things get broken! Lilly knew this, but for some reason every now and then she just couldn’t seem to help herself and Michael and Uncle Ben would stay out of her way until she calmed down a little.
It was times like these that Uncle Ben called her “Cyclone Lilly”. She caused a lot of mess, just like a real cyclone, and everyone was just a little scared of her.
“What has upset her this time?” Uncle Ben asked Michael.
“I think it has something to do with the new girl at school,” said Michael, “She is a fostered girl and she gets in trouble all the time and for some reason it is making Lilly angry, but I don’t know why.”
The fostered girl’s name was Sarah and she didn’t live with her Mum or Dad, and instead she stayed with other people. She had lived for a long time with a lady by the name of Debbie who had other children, but when Debbie got sick she wasn’t able to look after Sarah anymore and so Sarah then went to live with a lovely couple, the Smiths…. But then when Mrs. Smith had her baby, she decided she couldn’t look after Sarah anymore and so Sarah was then sent to live with the Johnsons, Amy and John, who sent her to the same school as the twins. And that was all that Michael had been able to find out about Sarah.
Things became quiet again upstairs. It seemed that Cyclone Lilly had run out of wind, and after stomping and throwing and punching pillows she was just too worn out to do anything. She was lying on her messed up bed among all the clothes she’d thrown around.
Usually at this stage Lilly would start to clean up the mess she’d made, but this time she was too upset. When Uncle Ben knocked on her door he found her sobbing into her pillow.
“Lilly, I’ve got some hot chocolate for you if you feel like it?” He said, and then when she didn’t respond, he figured she needed some more time alone and so he left her and went downstairs.
Truly, there is something magical about a warm and sweet drink when you are not feeling very happy. By the time that Lilly came down for her hot chocolate it needed to be warmed up, but that was easy enough to do….. a whole lot easier than trying to find out what was making Lilly so sad.
Michael did his usual joke telling to try and lighten the atmosphere, but Uncle Ben knew that something had very seriously upset Lilly and the only way to deal with big hurts is to share them with someone older and wiser….. Uncle Ben was both older and wiser.
“So, Lilly, what has been happening at school?” asked Uncle Ben.
Lilly shrugged her shoulders and continued to sip sadly on her hot chocolate.
“Michael tells me that there is a new girl at school.” Said Uncle Ben, and he could tell by the look on Lilly’s face that this was something to do with the problem. “Is she a nice girl, Lilly? Do you get on okay with her?”
Lilly finally replied, “She’s okay, but the other kids at school are mean to her.”
“Oh?” that surprised Uncle Ben because Michael hadn’t said anything about the kids being mean at school. “Is that true, Michael?” Uncle Ben asked, so that he could confirm the matter.
“Yeah, I guess so,” said Michael, “they tell her that if they were her Mum, they’d leave her with someone else too.”
Lilly’s eyes were filled with tears again and she added, “And they say ‘your mum doesn’t want you’, and things like that.”
“Oh”, said Uncle Ben, suddenly realizing a whole lot more about why Lilly was sad.
You see, Lilly and Michael were living with their Uncle Ben while their parents were away on a secret mission. So, the new girl, Sarah, and Lilly and Michael had something in common, they were all living with someone other than their parents. Every child misses their parents when they are away from them for any length of time, and sometimes they might worry whether or not their parents really do love them. Uncle Ben figured that this was why Lilly was upset. She missed her parents and because the kids at school were saying mean things about poor Sarah’s parents, Lilly was feeling insecure and rather unsure about whether her parents really loved her.
“Lilly and Michael…..”, announced Uncle Ben, “we are going on a trip in the time machine.” He said it like it was a definite command. No questions, ifs or buts.
Uncle Ben had invented the time machine and given it to Lilly for her birthday. It was a very simple and safe version so that nothing could go wrong. You could go back in time to see events that had already happened, but you couldn’t interfere with anything, just simply watch it happen.
Lilly didn’t feel like taking a trip in the time machine as she was just feeling too sad and cranky, but Michael ran up to Lilly’s room and brought the machine down to the kitchen. Uncle Ben set the dial and they all held on to the machine and each other.
Everything went all swirly and made them feel just a bit dizzy, but when the spinning stopped they found themselves at a place called Shiloh where there was a priest called Eli sitting on a chair near the church. He was looking inside at a lady.
Lilly and Michael and Uncle Ben went in very quietly so they could hear what the lady was saying and as they got closer they realized that she was crying.
She cried out to God, “Lord, you rule over all. Please see how I’m suffering! Show concern for me! Don’t forget about me! Please give me a son! If you do, I’ll give him back to you. Then he will serve you all the days of his life.”
She kept praying that kind of thing over and over and crying. Then the Priest came in and said to her, “How long will you keep on getting drunk? Get rid of your wine.”
The Lady replied to him, “That’s not true, sir, I’m a woman who is deeply troubled. I haven’t been drinking wine or beer. I was telling the Lord all of my troubles. Don’t think of me as an evil woman. I’ve been praying here because I’m very sad. My pain is so great.”
Then Eli answered, “Go in peace. May God give you what you have asked him for.”
Then the lady left and so did Michael, Lilly and Uncle Ben.
As they all sat down outside on the grass Lilly asked, “Who was that lady, Uncle Ben?”
“Her name is Hannah,” he replied, “and there is more to her story that we need to look at, but we need to go just a little forward in time to do so”.
Uncle Ben took a packet of chewing gum out of his pocket. “Here, you’d better have one of these because all this time travel might make you feel a bit dizzy. This is a special type of chewing gum I’ve invented to prevent the spinning from making you feel sick.”
They each took a piece of chewing gum and Uncle Ben turned the dial on the time machine once again. They all held on as things started to spin again and chewed on their gum. Just as the swirling cleared Lilly let out a big burp. Michael laughed and as he did a huge burp slipped out of his mouth, which brought on more laughter and then the loudest burp of all came from Uncle Ben.
“Ha, ha, ha, Yep”, laughed Uncle Ben, “the chewing gum works well, but the side effect is a big burp.”
They calmed down and looked around them. They were in the same place as they were before, but some of the trees were a little bigger and outside the church was a boy, about 12 years old, dressed exactly the same as the priest.
“Hey look,” exclaimed Lilly pointing, “there is Hannah!”
Sure enough, there was Hannah and she was walking toward the priest Eli, while the boy raced over and hugged her. Eli met them at the entrance of the church and they saw her give the priest a robe, indicating that it was for the boy.
“What is she doing, Uncle Ben?” asked Michael.
“The boy’s name is Samuel, and he is Hannah’s son,” said Uncle Ben. Just listen to their conversation and see if you can work it out what is happening.”
Hannah’s husband then joined them and the priest put his hand on the husband’s head as if he was praying. Michael and Lilly leaned forward so that they could hear clearly.
Eli closed his eyes and said, “May the Lord give you and your wife, Hannah, children that can take the place of the boy she prayed for and gave to God.”
After this Hannah hugged the boy, Samuel, and then Hannah and her husband set off down the road.
Lilly could see that the boy wanted to cry, but he didn’t. Eli handed the robe to Samuel and Samuel took it into the house that was next to the church.
The children looked at Uncle Ben with wide eyes. Michael asked, “Does Samuel live with Eli, Uncle Ben? Why didn’t they take him home with them?”
Uncle Ben explained, “Samuel sees his mother just once every year and she brings him a new robe, just like the priest’s. Do you remember Hannah’s prayer?”
“Yes,” said Michael, “she prayed for a son.”
“And…” prompted Uncle Ben, “What else did she say in that prayer?”
Lilly answered him very quietly, “She said that if God gave her a son, that she would give the son to God.”
“That’s right,” said Uncle Ben, “and that the son would serve God for all of his life”.
“But, Uncle Ben…..” said Lilly, “Samuel is only a boy, and he obviously misses his mum. I could see that he looked so sad when she left. It’s not fair and it is just too hard.”
At that moment the automatic home function of the time machine started and the swirling this time took them by surprise. They chewed hard on the gum and within a few seconds they found themselves back in their own kitchen. They burped again, but they were feeling too sad to laugh this time.
Uncle Ben flicked the switch on the jug to make another hot chocolate for all of them.
“Michael and Lilly,” he said as they all sat down with their drinks, “you have to understand some things about the story of Samuel. He was no ordinary man. He lived in a time when there were many evil things happening and no one was listening to God, but not long after that event that we saw, God woke Samuel up in the middle of the night and spoke with him. It freaked Samuel out for a little while and he thought that it was Eli calling out to him, because hardly anyone ever heard God speak to them like that. When Samuel grew up he led people in the right way and it was him who anointed the kings of Israel. None of it would have been possible if his mother didn’t keep her promise to give him to God.”
“But he was sad and only a boy a long way from his mother and father…” said Lilly “didn’t she love him and want him with her?”
“Of course she did,” explained Uncle Ben, “but she trusted God and kept her promise. It was hard for her and hard for Samuel, but sometimes it seems that those who have hard things happen to them are those who grow to be the absolutely most extraordinary people, with the most extraordinary lives.”
He added, “Lilly and Michael, your Mum and Dad Love you so much. Don’t ever doubt that. They know that they have a job to do and they know that it is better for you to be here with me. The Bible tells us that all things work for good for those who love God, so we know that even when things are hard, and even down right horrible, in the end, if we stay true to God, those same things can be something that makes us extraordinary people. And do you know why?”
The twins looked at him and both of them with their heads cocked to one side and a frown on their forehead replied, “Why?”
Uncle Ben answered, “Because the God who created the universe loves you more than you can possibly imagine…. Even more than how much you love your mum and dad… and when you are a child of God you are a long, long, way from being just an ordinary kid.”
Finally Lilly smiled. Ah, what a lovely sight. A big grin with twinkling eyes and Uncle Ben knew beyond any shadow of doubt that she was one very special kid…. Even if she did throw temper tantrums!
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Reflection for 17th March 2013 Lent 5
Year C Fifth Sunday in Lent 17 March 2013
Isaiah 43: 16-21 Psalm 126 Philippians 3: 4b-14 John 12: 1-8
The ways of God often seem so unpredictable. Do you feel comfortable in your faith? Then it is possible you’ve fallen into the same ways as so many before and beware, because you are about to have that comfort challenged.
How much are the average annual wages for a labourer? Answer: Full-time earnings in Australia averaged $69,992 a year in the first quarter of 2012. (Seasonally adjusted wages – Bureau of Statistics.) Keep that in mind as we explore this week’s readings.
Isaiah 43:18- 21 “Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. The wild animals will honour me, the jackals and the ostriches; for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself so that they might declare my praise.”
How strange that God would declare to his people to NOT remember the former things. So strange, that we would be foolish not to explore further and discover what God was really doing.
In the former days God had made a path through the sea and had fed his people with bread from heaven and had given them water in the desert. It is obvious that before God asks them to NOT remember, that he does intend to remind them. These people are reminded of the great things that God has done, but now he says to them, “Do not remember the former things or consider the things of old….”
To put ourselves in the shoes of these people, we need to realize that these are a religious people. They had the holy festivals that told the story of the Passover and they had every ritual of life that tied in with the law of God where sacrifices were given for sin and first fruits were offered to God and the first born was consecrated to God and needed to be redeemed according to the law of God.
These rituals and stories were a comfort and assurance of God’s love and favour. In much the same way, we have our own rituals and stories. We have our church services which tell the story of God and within the service we have confession and absolution and we have communion as both remembrance and reconciliation and unity with God. How delightful and comfortable our faith is!! It is just like that same faith of the people of God so long ago and just like the faith that St. Paul was brought up in – that of the Pharisees.
Uh-Oh! Have I hit a nerve yet?
We like to think that we have nothing in common with the Pharisees who were so hypocritical, but we need to understand that these were people who were brought up in the ways of God, knowing the stories and the rituals – much like us. Because they knew the stories and rituals so well, they didn’t understand what was happening when Jesus came – and they rejected him – not all of them, but certainly on the whole and as a group, they did not recognize God among them, and the reason was that they thought that they knew God and His ways. When Jesus did things that didn’t seem in line with what they thought and had known about God through their religion and traditions, and when they began to feel uncomfortable in their faith, they concluded that Jesus was a sinner who must be put to death.
It is certainly not a bad thing to have the rituals and the stories….. otherwise God would not have commanded them in the first place. The rituals and the stories should teach us and lead us ultimately to a personal and intimately close relationship with God. Praying to God should be as natural and as often as breathing.
If we look back to our first reading we will note that God does remind the people of the things that were done in the former days, but he then commands them to no longer remember them and no longer consider them because he is about to do something new. The implication is that he is about to do something that is so far exceeding the former things that there will be no need to remember them, and also that to move forward there is a need to let go of the past.
What is it that we are holding on to that God would have us let go of?
I’m reminded of the story of a little girl whose father often travelled away for work. He gave the little girl a gift of a toy pearl necklace. The little girls treasured the pearls for a very long time, but then she was faced with a problem: The father asked the little girl if she loved him. She replied that she did, and the father then asked her to give him her pearls. She refused for a long time, but eventually she gave them to her father, deciding that she loved him more than the pearls. The father then presented her with the gift of a genuine pearl necklace.
Our Gospel story is much like this. God has given us something amazing and good. In the Old Testament and for the Israelite people this was the stories, the rituals and the precious law of God. It set the people apart as sacred to God and confirmed God’s favour. BUT God, after bringing these things to mind then commands them to not remember or consider these things because he had something new to do in the future that would so pale the former things by comparison. Could the Israelites, the people of Jesus time, accept that they needed to see that what they had in their stories, rituals, traditions and law was only a shadow of what he had in store for their future?
The rituals and the stories were such a comfort…… the pearls were a comfort…… The important question is, which do we love more; the stories, the rituals, the law and the traditions, or God who gave them? And can we give them up to allow God to do something greater?
St. Paul came face to face with this reality when he declared things about himself in his letter to the Philippians.
Philippians3: 4-6 “even though I, too, have reason for confidence in the flesh.
If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.”
St. Paul goes on to explain that he considers all that he accomplished in the flesh as rubbish. He explains that all his efforts were loss in Christ because he would rather have a righteousness that was from his standing in Christ. He declares that his former Self-righteousness only served to keep him separated from acknowledging his need for a righteousness that is in Christ – and separated from God.
In the time of Jesus there were many sinners who had accepted Christ. These people knew that they needed a miracle for God to love and accept them because they were aware of their failure – their sin. St. Paul is completely different from most people who came to Christ. His conversion was a dramatic miracle and it needed to be, because St. Paul thought that he was alright with God. He was even so zealous for God that he was striving to snuff out the young Christian church who he considered to be heretics.
Without the intense light of God’s truth, St. Paul may never have been able to see his spiritual blindness. Is it possible that we too need the miracle of God’s intense light to see the things that we are holding on to in God’s name, are things that we have made so synonymous with God that we love them more than God himself. Are we willing to put a personal and intimate relationship with God above all our traditions and rituals and prior understandings?
While I leave you to ponder that thought, I ask you to call to mind again the average years wage in Australia - $69,992. Can you now call to mind something that would cost about that much?
In the time of Jesus, a year’s wage was about three hundred denarii.
John 12:1-8 “Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, ‘Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?’”
Hopefully the understanding of the incredible expense of that perfume now sheds new light on this reading….
I believe it would not have been only Judas who was thinking that this was a huge misappropriation of funds, but I bring this to your attention as a challenge to see that God has a heart that is firstly and foremost concerned about us placing him as number one in our lives. All our understandings about how we should do things in church, what is appropriate and what isn’t, etc…. these things will constantly be challenged and constantly be breaking God’s heart unless we so intimately connect with him.
The Pharisees constantly were at odds with Jesus and yet they thought they were doing God’s will. It seems possible that it wasn’t until this incident with the perfume that Judas decided he would betray Jesus…. It is more than likely that Jesus did not fit in with Judas’s idea of God – otherwise he would not have betrayed him.
Surely it seems completely sinful to spend so much on perfume….. we can all see that now, can’t we? It was a whole year’s wage and there are poor and starving people…..
What seems abundantly clear to me is that God must be number one in our lives and in our churches. Unless we are so connected with God and indwelt by his Holy Spirit we will never be any more pleasing to God than a Pharisee, and we may even be Judas……
Isaiah 43: 16-21 Psalm 126 Philippians 3: 4b-14 John 12: 1-8
The ways of God often seem so unpredictable. Do you feel comfortable in your faith? Then it is possible you’ve fallen into the same ways as so many before and beware, because you are about to have that comfort challenged.
How much are the average annual wages for a labourer? Answer: Full-time earnings in Australia averaged $69,992 a year in the first quarter of 2012. (Seasonally adjusted wages – Bureau of Statistics.) Keep that in mind as we explore this week’s readings.
Isaiah 43:18- 21 “Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. The wild animals will honour me, the jackals and the ostriches; for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself so that they might declare my praise.”
How strange that God would declare to his people to NOT remember the former things. So strange, that we would be foolish not to explore further and discover what God was really doing.
In the former days God had made a path through the sea and had fed his people with bread from heaven and had given them water in the desert. It is obvious that before God asks them to NOT remember, that he does intend to remind them. These people are reminded of the great things that God has done, but now he says to them, “Do not remember the former things or consider the things of old….”
To put ourselves in the shoes of these people, we need to realize that these are a religious people. They had the holy festivals that told the story of the Passover and they had every ritual of life that tied in with the law of God where sacrifices were given for sin and first fruits were offered to God and the first born was consecrated to God and needed to be redeemed according to the law of God.
These rituals and stories were a comfort and assurance of God’s love and favour. In much the same way, we have our own rituals and stories. We have our church services which tell the story of God and within the service we have confession and absolution and we have communion as both remembrance and reconciliation and unity with God. How delightful and comfortable our faith is!! It is just like that same faith of the people of God so long ago and just like the faith that St. Paul was brought up in – that of the Pharisees.
Uh-Oh! Have I hit a nerve yet?
We like to think that we have nothing in common with the Pharisees who were so hypocritical, but we need to understand that these were people who were brought up in the ways of God, knowing the stories and the rituals – much like us. Because they knew the stories and rituals so well, they didn’t understand what was happening when Jesus came – and they rejected him – not all of them, but certainly on the whole and as a group, they did not recognize God among them, and the reason was that they thought that they knew God and His ways. When Jesus did things that didn’t seem in line with what they thought and had known about God through their religion and traditions, and when they began to feel uncomfortable in their faith, they concluded that Jesus was a sinner who must be put to death.
It is certainly not a bad thing to have the rituals and the stories….. otherwise God would not have commanded them in the first place. The rituals and the stories should teach us and lead us ultimately to a personal and intimately close relationship with God. Praying to God should be as natural and as often as breathing.
If we look back to our first reading we will note that God does remind the people of the things that were done in the former days, but he then commands them to no longer remember them and no longer consider them because he is about to do something new. The implication is that he is about to do something that is so far exceeding the former things that there will be no need to remember them, and also that to move forward there is a need to let go of the past.
What is it that we are holding on to that God would have us let go of?
I’m reminded of the story of a little girl whose father often travelled away for work. He gave the little girl a gift of a toy pearl necklace. The little girls treasured the pearls for a very long time, but then she was faced with a problem: The father asked the little girl if she loved him. She replied that she did, and the father then asked her to give him her pearls. She refused for a long time, but eventually she gave them to her father, deciding that she loved him more than the pearls. The father then presented her with the gift of a genuine pearl necklace.
Our Gospel story is much like this. God has given us something amazing and good. In the Old Testament and for the Israelite people this was the stories, the rituals and the precious law of God. It set the people apart as sacred to God and confirmed God’s favour. BUT God, after bringing these things to mind then commands them to not remember or consider these things because he had something new to do in the future that would so pale the former things by comparison. Could the Israelites, the people of Jesus time, accept that they needed to see that what they had in their stories, rituals, traditions and law was only a shadow of what he had in store for their future?
The rituals and the stories were such a comfort…… the pearls were a comfort…… The important question is, which do we love more; the stories, the rituals, the law and the traditions, or God who gave them? And can we give them up to allow God to do something greater?
St. Paul came face to face with this reality when he declared things about himself in his letter to the Philippians.
Philippians3: 4-6 “even though I, too, have reason for confidence in the flesh.
If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.”
St. Paul goes on to explain that he considers all that he accomplished in the flesh as rubbish. He explains that all his efforts were loss in Christ because he would rather have a righteousness that was from his standing in Christ. He declares that his former Self-righteousness only served to keep him separated from acknowledging his need for a righteousness that is in Christ – and separated from God.
In the time of Jesus there were many sinners who had accepted Christ. These people knew that they needed a miracle for God to love and accept them because they were aware of their failure – their sin. St. Paul is completely different from most people who came to Christ. His conversion was a dramatic miracle and it needed to be, because St. Paul thought that he was alright with God. He was even so zealous for God that he was striving to snuff out the young Christian church who he considered to be heretics.
Without the intense light of God’s truth, St. Paul may never have been able to see his spiritual blindness. Is it possible that we too need the miracle of God’s intense light to see the things that we are holding on to in God’s name, are things that we have made so synonymous with God that we love them more than God himself. Are we willing to put a personal and intimate relationship with God above all our traditions and rituals and prior understandings?
While I leave you to ponder that thought, I ask you to call to mind again the average years wage in Australia - $69,992. Can you now call to mind something that would cost about that much?
In the time of Jesus, a year’s wage was about three hundred denarii.
John 12:1-8 “Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, ‘Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?’”
Hopefully the understanding of the incredible expense of that perfume now sheds new light on this reading….
I believe it would not have been only Judas who was thinking that this was a huge misappropriation of funds, but I bring this to your attention as a challenge to see that God has a heart that is firstly and foremost concerned about us placing him as number one in our lives. All our understandings about how we should do things in church, what is appropriate and what isn’t, etc…. these things will constantly be challenged and constantly be breaking God’s heart unless we so intimately connect with him.
The Pharisees constantly were at odds with Jesus and yet they thought they were doing God’s will. It seems possible that it wasn’t until this incident with the perfume that Judas decided he would betray Jesus…. It is more than likely that Jesus did not fit in with Judas’s idea of God – otherwise he would not have betrayed him.
Surely it seems completely sinful to spend so much on perfume….. we can all see that now, can’t we? It was a whole year’s wage and there are poor and starving people…..
What seems abundantly clear to me is that God must be number one in our lives and in our churches. Unless we are so connected with God and indwelt by his Holy Spirit we will never be any more pleasing to God than a Pharisee, and we may even be Judas……
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
PAID a children's story
PAID by Niki Vella Power
“NOOOOOOOOOOOO!” There was a loud cry from the shed. It sounded like Uncle Ben and He sounded really upset.
Lilly and Michael looked at each other from over their card game. They had been playing Fish, while their uncle had been hard at work all day in the shed.
Lilly and Michael were twins and they lived with their uncle, who was an inventor.
The shed was Uncle Ben’s special and precious place where he made the most amazing inventions. There was a boat that would convert into a quad bike as well as a small submarine, and then there was a ray gun that could project an image into a room so that it looked like whatever was being projected was actually there for real. The most amazing invention, as far as the twins were concerned, was the time machine that Uncle Ben had given Lilly for her birthday.
Having a time machine meant that they could travel back in time to watch events, but they couldn’t change anything. It was kind of like being a fly on the wall, watching life go by, but not interfering with it.
“Should we go and see what’s happened with Uncle Ben?” ask Michael.
But just then the children heard the shed door slam and Uncle Ben came striding in with his face red and eyes sparkling with anger. The children were quite afraid. They had never seen Uncle Ben angry. Usually he was the one who stayed calm even when they were out in a storm and everything seemed to be going wrong. What could have gotten him so steamed up?
“Your Uncle Simon is coming to stay!” He announced to the two children while still glaring and obviously trying to calm himself down for their sake.
The twins jumped and laughed and then hugged Uncle Ben. “Oh Uncle Ben that is wonderful and so exciting,” said Lilly. Uncle Ben finally smiled as the joy of the children was really quite contagious and he was catching a little of their excitement himself.
Uncle Simon was the youngest of the three brothers. The Twins father was the eldest and then Uncle Ben, and then Uncle Simon. But most importantly, Uncle Simon was the fun uncle. He was the one who loved to play music loud and would play games with them when he visited. He wasn’t a secret agent like the twins father and he wasn’t an inventor like Uncle Ben. Uncle Simon played in a band that toured the country. He was always broke and needing a loan. It seemed that there were possibly other things Uncle Simon did that the adults didn’t tell the children about, but the children knew that Uncle Ben and their Dad thought Uncle Simon was TROUBLE with a capital T.
“But why are you so angry, Uncle Ben?” Michael inquired.
“Hmm… ,” said Uncle Ben, “Well I got such a fright when the phone rang that I dropped the soldering iron on knee, and broke the piece I was working on. As well as that, I just know that your Uncle usually only comes to visit when he has run out of places to go, and run out of money to spend.” As he said this he remembered that he had initially come over to the house to get ice for his burnt knee. He was so angry that he had almost forgotten how much it hurt, and now he remembered…. But he wasn’t angry anymore, just a little upset.
Lilly had grabbed the ice pack out of the freezer and wrapped a cloth around it for him. As he sat down with it he told them, “Uncle Simon expects to arrive tonight at around seven pm., which means that he should be in time for tea.”
This was met with a fresh round of enthusiasm and jumping with excitement from the twins.
Uncle Simon arrived looking way thinner than the twins had remembered and he was very tired. The twins were a little disappointed that he didn’t seem as interested in playing games with them as usual, but they figured that tomorrow would surely be a fun day.
The next morning the twins awoke with excitement and eager to spend time with Uncle Simon but he was nowhere to be found. When it was time for the children to catch the bus for school they still had not seen Uncle Simon, so they left for school somewhat disappointed.
The afternoon brought with it all that the twins had expected from their Uncle Simon. He greeted them off the bus and then showed them the new basketball that he’d bought for them…. And a basketball back board and hoop. Apparently he’d left early that morning to go into town and purchase everything.
The twins were so excited; this was what they loved about their Uncle Simon. He was fun! While Uncle Ben spent all his spare time in the shed the twins found that they were constantly entertained by Uncle Simon. It was a week of games and gifts and videos; Uncle Simon would make popcorn and watch movies with them like they were in a real picture theatre and he always seemed to know interesting things about the characters in the movie.
The weekend came around and Uncle Ben asked Michael to play his guitar for Uncle Simon, who was suitably impressed. Uncle Simon was leaving the next day and so the children were rather sad about that.
No one knew when Uncle Simon left, but once again Uncle Ben was in a bad mood…. And that was just so much not like Uncle Ben, but the children couldn’t blame him. Uncle Simon had taken Uncle Ben’s degravinator machine. It was one of Uncle Ben’s inventions but he didn’t own it. It belonged to one of the Secret Agents who worked with the children’s parents…. Uncle Simon must have known that it would be worth a lot of money, but the children weren’t sure if he realized that Uncle Ben would have to pay the Secret Agent back his money. In this case though, Uncle Ben had insured the degravinator and so the insurance claim would also cover any money that he lost on it, but nothing could replace the trust and good will that Uncle Ben and the children had lost in Uncle Simon and nothing could take away their disappointment.
The children were devastated to realize that their beloved uncle would steal from them. He always seemed to be giving things to them. He didn’t have to give them things; the children would have loved him anyway. They didn’t need any gifts and didn’t realize that he had a problem with being responsible with money. It seemed that their father and Uncle Ben were right about Uncle Simon after all. Uncle Simon was trouble…. Capital T – TROUBLE.
Uncle Ben tried to cheer the children up by showing them how to make hard lollies that explode in your mouth and turn into honey when you suck them. It was always lovely to be involved in the amazingly inventive life of Uncle Ben, but the children were still feeling rather sad.
Late that night the children were awakened by thunder and lightning. Uncle Ben brought them down into the lounge room with their pillows and blankets so they could all be together. The storm was pretty fierce and the lounge was a safe room in the middle of the house.
In the midst of the lightning strikes there was a knock at the door. The children and Uncle Ben all looked very surprised, but Uncle Ben got up quickly because no one should be out in that horrible storm.
There at the door, very wet and very frightened, and with a cut leg and a cut across his forehead, was Uncle Simon. Lilly quickly grabbed the first aid kit and Michael and Uncle Ben found some dry clothes and towel for Uncle Simon. Not much was said. Uncle Simon seemed sad and silent and the twins just didn’t know what to make of anything.
Finally Uncle Simon broke the silence. “I’m so sorry for everything. I’ve hurt you and I certainly don’t deserve to have you look after me.”
Uncle Ben spoke quietly, but it was clear he was still very angry. “That is right…. You don’t, and tomorrow you can leave.”
“I’ll pay you for the machine as soon as I can get enough money together.” Said Uncle Simon
“No need. It’s been paid already”, said Uncle Ben rather gruffly. “The insurance claim paid for it.”
The storm had died down so the twins headed back to their beds. In the morning breakfast was tense and uncomfortable. Lilly and Michael decided that they needed to do something so Michael told a joke… and then another and then another.
“What’s green and has wheels?” he asked. “Grass! I lied about the wheels.”
Lilly thought it was funny, but she noticed that the two uncles were still not very happy.
“Uncle Simon, have I shown you my birthday present from Uncle Ben?” asked Lilly. He shook his head and so she raced up to get it while Michael continued with the jokes.
“Why did the boy cross the road?” asked Michael “Because he was stapled to the chicken!”
“Lilly, come and save us from these crazy jokes”, pleaded Uncle Ben. He was starting to pick up on the children’s mood again. He really was a good natured man and couldn’t stay mad for very long.
“Well”, said Lilly, “I need us to all hold hands.” Without explaining to Uncle Simon about the time machine she set the date and pressed the button. She’d used the machine so often that she knew exactly what event she wanted and could set it exactly.
“Wooooo!” Uncle Simon let out a cry. Everything around him was spinning and he had no idea what was going on. Somewhere in the chaos of swirling colours he heard Lilly telling him that they were taking a trip in the time machine. “What?” He cried out again, “there’s no such thing as a time machine.” Lilly, Michael and Uncle Ben all laughed. It would seem that Uncle Simon had no idea just how clever his brother was.
Then the swirling cleared and the group found themselves standing halfway up a hill and a man was telling a story.
“Wow!” said Uncle Simon, “Look at all these people”.
On the hillside was quite a motley bunch of people. Some of them looked like they were quite important and some of them looked gruff and cranky. Others were just listening very intently to man telling the story.
Uncle Simon gasped, “Is that J… no it can’t be… Oh, but I think it is.. Is that Jesus?”
“You betcha” said Michael. “Now, quiet and listen”.
“There was a man who had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, “Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.” So he divided his property between them. A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and travelled to a distant country, and there he wasted his property and money with parties and reckless living.”
Uncle Simon spoke, “That’s me isn’t it, Lilly? That is why you wanted me to see this…”
He looked sad, but Lilly smiled and said, “just keep listening”.
Jesus continued with the story; “When he had spent everything, he began to be in need. So he went and got a job feeding the pigs. He was so hungry that he would gladly have filled himself with the food that the pigs were eating because no one gave him anything. Then he realized how good things were with his father and he said, “How many of my father’s workers have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.’” So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. Then the son said to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.” But the father said to his workers, “Quickly, bring out a robe—the best one—and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!” And they began to celebrate.
‘Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on. He replied, “Your brother has come, and your father is celebrating because he is back safe and sound.” Then he became angry and refused to go in. “
Now Uncle Ben interrupted, “uh-oh, now I know why Lilly wanted me here too Simon, I think that older brother might just be me.”
Once again Lilly just smiled and said, “just keep listening”..
Jesus continued, “His father came out and began to plead with him. But he answered his father, “Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me anything so that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came back, who has wasted all your money you celebrate!” Then the father said to him, “Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.”’
And just as Jesus said those words everything began to spin again as the time machine was taking them back to their own time.
As it spun everyone was very quiet and it was clear that both Uncle Ben and Uncle Simon were deep in thought.
Back in their own house, Uncle Ben broke the silence and said, “Simon, I’m sorry that I’ve been harsh with you.”
Uncle Simon sank into the kitchen chair and asked, “Is the father that Jesus was talking about… is that God? And do you think he will accept me even though I’ve done terrible things?”
“Are you sorry for those terrible things and do you realize that they truly were terrible?” Asked Uncle Ben
“Uncle Ben!” scolded Michael, “You know that God accepts us even though we do the wrong thing. You taught us that when I was skipping my school classes last year.”
Uncle Ben grinned, “Yes, Simon. God does accept us”
“But I need to pay for all that I’ve done, don’t I?” replied Uncle Simon
Lilly spoke up, “Actually, no you don’t. It might be a good idea if you have hurt someone to try to make it up to them, but you don’t have to pay for what you’ve done before God will love you and accept you.”
“But how can I know that God will accept me? What do I need to do?” asked Uncle Simon.
“If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” said Michael and Lilly together. It was in the Bible and the both knew it by heart.
“Then I will…. Jesus is my Lord. I want him to be in charge of my life because I have stuffed it all up by doing what I wanted. And I do believe that he rose from the dead. Are you sure that is all I need to do?” Uncle Simon inquired again. “I still feel that I need to pay for what I’ve done”.
Uncle Ben smiled his lovely big smile and said, “It has been paid! Jesus paid for all our sins when he died on the cross; there is nothing else that we need to do. It is the same as the degravinator; It wouldn’t make sense to pay me for it because the debt has already been paid. In the same way, Jesus has paid for all our failures and so there is nothing keeping us apart from the love of God.”
“You know what, though?” interjected Michael, “I am reminded that we do really need to let Jesus be in control of our life. That is the only way to live an extra-ordinary life and that is what I want to do. It is very easy to say I want to do things my way, and I have to remember to ask Jesus what he wants me to do instead.”
“Oh yes,” agreed Lilly “and we all fail to do the very best at some times, but it is so great to know that God loves us and Jesus has already paid anything that we owe God.”
“Ah…” said Uncle Ben, “and because God loves, accepts and forgives us, we really should love, accept and forgive each other.”
Yep, yep, yep! And right there in the kitchen they all forgave, accepted and loved each other.
“NOOOOOOOOOOOO!” There was a loud cry from the shed. It sounded like Uncle Ben and He sounded really upset.
Lilly and Michael looked at each other from over their card game. They had been playing Fish, while their uncle had been hard at work all day in the shed.
Lilly and Michael were twins and they lived with their uncle, who was an inventor.
The shed was Uncle Ben’s special and precious place where he made the most amazing inventions. There was a boat that would convert into a quad bike as well as a small submarine, and then there was a ray gun that could project an image into a room so that it looked like whatever was being projected was actually there for real. The most amazing invention, as far as the twins were concerned, was the time machine that Uncle Ben had given Lilly for her birthday.
Having a time machine meant that they could travel back in time to watch events, but they couldn’t change anything. It was kind of like being a fly on the wall, watching life go by, but not interfering with it.
“Should we go and see what’s happened with Uncle Ben?” ask Michael.
But just then the children heard the shed door slam and Uncle Ben came striding in with his face red and eyes sparkling with anger. The children were quite afraid. They had never seen Uncle Ben angry. Usually he was the one who stayed calm even when they were out in a storm and everything seemed to be going wrong. What could have gotten him so steamed up?
“Your Uncle Simon is coming to stay!” He announced to the two children while still glaring and obviously trying to calm himself down for their sake.
The twins jumped and laughed and then hugged Uncle Ben. “Oh Uncle Ben that is wonderful and so exciting,” said Lilly. Uncle Ben finally smiled as the joy of the children was really quite contagious and he was catching a little of their excitement himself.
Uncle Simon was the youngest of the three brothers. The Twins father was the eldest and then Uncle Ben, and then Uncle Simon. But most importantly, Uncle Simon was the fun uncle. He was the one who loved to play music loud and would play games with them when he visited. He wasn’t a secret agent like the twins father and he wasn’t an inventor like Uncle Ben. Uncle Simon played in a band that toured the country. He was always broke and needing a loan. It seemed that there were possibly other things Uncle Simon did that the adults didn’t tell the children about, but the children knew that Uncle Ben and their Dad thought Uncle Simon was TROUBLE with a capital T.
“But why are you so angry, Uncle Ben?” Michael inquired.
“Hmm… ,” said Uncle Ben, “Well I got such a fright when the phone rang that I dropped the soldering iron on knee, and broke the piece I was working on. As well as that, I just know that your Uncle usually only comes to visit when he has run out of places to go, and run out of money to spend.” As he said this he remembered that he had initially come over to the house to get ice for his burnt knee. He was so angry that he had almost forgotten how much it hurt, and now he remembered…. But he wasn’t angry anymore, just a little upset.
Lilly had grabbed the ice pack out of the freezer and wrapped a cloth around it for him. As he sat down with it he told them, “Uncle Simon expects to arrive tonight at around seven pm., which means that he should be in time for tea.”
This was met with a fresh round of enthusiasm and jumping with excitement from the twins.
Uncle Simon arrived looking way thinner than the twins had remembered and he was very tired. The twins were a little disappointed that he didn’t seem as interested in playing games with them as usual, but they figured that tomorrow would surely be a fun day.
The next morning the twins awoke with excitement and eager to spend time with Uncle Simon but he was nowhere to be found. When it was time for the children to catch the bus for school they still had not seen Uncle Simon, so they left for school somewhat disappointed.
The afternoon brought with it all that the twins had expected from their Uncle Simon. He greeted them off the bus and then showed them the new basketball that he’d bought for them…. And a basketball back board and hoop. Apparently he’d left early that morning to go into town and purchase everything.
The twins were so excited; this was what they loved about their Uncle Simon. He was fun! While Uncle Ben spent all his spare time in the shed the twins found that they were constantly entertained by Uncle Simon. It was a week of games and gifts and videos; Uncle Simon would make popcorn and watch movies with them like they were in a real picture theatre and he always seemed to know interesting things about the characters in the movie.
The weekend came around and Uncle Ben asked Michael to play his guitar for Uncle Simon, who was suitably impressed. Uncle Simon was leaving the next day and so the children were rather sad about that.
No one knew when Uncle Simon left, but once again Uncle Ben was in a bad mood…. And that was just so much not like Uncle Ben, but the children couldn’t blame him. Uncle Simon had taken Uncle Ben’s degravinator machine. It was one of Uncle Ben’s inventions but he didn’t own it. It belonged to one of the Secret Agents who worked with the children’s parents…. Uncle Simon must have known that it would be worth a lot of money, but the children weren’t sure if he realized that Uncle Ben would have to pay the Secret Agent back his money. In this case though, Uncle Ben had insured the degravinator and so the insurance claim would also cover any money that he lost on it, but nothing could replace the trust and good will that Uncle Ben and the children had lost in Uncle Simon and nothing could take away their disappointment.
The children were devastated to realize that their beloved uncle would steal from them. He always seemed to be giving things to them. He didn’t have to give them things; the children would have loved him anyway. They didn’t need any gifts and didn’t realize that he had a problem with being responsible with money. It seemed that their father and Uncle Ben were right about Uncle Simon after all. Uncle Simon was trouble…. Capital T – TROUBLE.
Uncle Ben tried to cheer the children up by showing them how to make hard lollies that explode in your mouth and turn into honey when you suck them. It was always lovely to be involved in the amazingly inventive life of Uncle Ben, but the children were still feeling rather sad.
Late that night the children were awakened by thunder and lightning. Uncle Ben brought them down into the lounge room with their pillows and blankets so they could all be together. The storm was pretty fierce and the lounge was a safe room in the middle of the house.
In the midst of the lightning strikes there was a knock at the door. The children and Uncle Ben all looked very surprised, but Uncle Ben got up quickly because no one should be out in that horrible storm.
There at the door, very wet and very frightened, and with a cut leg and a cut across his forehead, was Uncle Simon. Lilly quickly grabbed the first aid kit and Michael and Uncle Ben found some dry clothes and towel for Uncle Simon. Not much was said. Uncle Simon seemed sad and silent and the twins just didn’t know what to make of anything.
Finally Uncle Simon broke the silence. “I’m so sorry for everything. I’ve hurt you and I certainly don’t deserve to have you look after me.”
Uncle Ben spoke quietly, but it was clear he was still very angry. “That is right…. You don’t, and tomorrow you can leave.”
“I’ll pay you for the machine as soon as I can get enough money together.” Said Uncle Simon
“No need. It’s been paid already”, said Uncle Ben rather gruffly. “The insurance claim paid for it.”
The storm had died down so the twins headed back to their beds. In the morning breakfast was tense and uncomfortable. Lilly and Michael decided that they needed to do something so Michael told a joke… and then another and then another.
“What’s green and has wheels?” he asked. “Grass! I lied about the wheels.”
Lilly thought it was funny, but she noticed that the two uncles were still not very happy.
“Uncle Simon, have I shown you my birthday present from Uncle Ben?” asked Lilly. He shook his head and so she raced up to get it while Michael continued with the jokes.
“Why did the boy cross the road?” asked Michael “Because he was stapled to the chicken!”
“Lilly, come and save us from these crazy jokes”, pleaded Uncle Ben. He was starting to pick up on the children’s mood again. He really was a good natured man and couldn’t stay mad for very long.
“Well”, said Lilly, “I need us to all hold hands.” Without explaining to Uncle Simon about the time machine she set the date and pressed the button. She’d used the machine so often that she knew exactly what event she wanted and could set it exactly.
“Wooooo!” Uncle Simon let out a cry. Everything around him was spinning and he had no idea what was going on. Somewhere in the chaos of swirling colours he heard Lilly telling him that they were taking a trip in the time machine. “What?” He cried out again, “there’s no such thing as a time machine.” Lilly, Michael and Uncle Ben all laughed. It would seem that Uncle Simon had no idea just how clever his brother was.
Then the swirling cleared and the group found themselves standing halfway up a hill and a man was telling a story.
“Wow!” said Uncle Simon, “Look at all these people”.
On the hillside was quite a motley bunch of people. Some of them looked like they were quite important and some of them looked gruff and cranky. Others were just listening very intently to man telling the story.
Uncle Simon gasped, “Is that J… no it can’t be… Oh, but I think it is.. Is that Jesus?”
“You betcha” said Michael. “Now, quiet and listen”.
“There was a man who had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, “Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.” So he divided his property between them. A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and travelled to a distant country, and there he wasted his property and money with parties and reckless living.”
Uncle Simon spoke, “That’s me isn’t it, Lilly? That is why you wanted me to see this…”
He looked sad, but Lilly smiled and said, “just keep listening”.
Jesus continued with the story; “When he had spent everything, he began to be in need. So he went and got a job feeding the pigs. He was so hungry that he would gladly have filled himself with the food that the pigs were eating because no one gave him anything. Then he realized how good things were with his father and he said, “How many of my father’s workers have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.’” So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. Then the son said to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.” But the father said to his workers, “Quickly, bring out a robe—the best one—and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!” And they began to celebrate.
‘Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on. He replied, “Your brother has come, and your father is celebrating because he is back safe and sound.” Then he became angry and refused to go in. “
Now Uncle Ben interrupted, “uh-oh, now I know why Lilly wanted me here too Simon, I think that older brother might just be me.”
Once again Lilly just smiled and said, “just keep listening”..
Jesus continued, “His father came out and began to plead with him. But he answered his father, “Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me anything so that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came back, who has wasted all your money you celebrate!” Then the father said to him, “Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.”’
And just as Jesus said those words everything began to spin again as the time machine was taking them back to their own time.
As it spun everyone was very quiet and it was clear that both Uncle Ben and Uncle Simon were deep in thought.
Back in their own house, Uncle Ben broke the silence and said, “Simon, I’m sorry that I’ve been harsh with you.”
Uncle Simon sank into the kitchen chair and asked, “Is the father that Jesus was talking about… is that God? And do you think he will accept me even though I’ve done terrible things?”
“Are you sorry for those terrible things and do you realize that they truly were terrible?” Asked Uncle Ben
“Uncle Ben!” scolded Michael, “You know that God accepts us even though we do the wrong thing. You taught us that when I was skipping my school classes last year.”
Uncle Ben grinned, “Yes, Simon. God does accept us”
“But I need to pay for all that I’ve done, don’t I?” replied Uncle Simon
Lilly spoke up, “Actually, no you don’t. It might be a good idea if you have hurt someone to try to make it up to them, but you don’t have to pay for what you’ve done before God will love you and accept you.”
“But how can I know that God will accept me? What do I need to do?” asked Uncle Simon.
“If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” said Michael and Lilly together. It was in the Bible and the both knew it by heart.
“Then I will…. Jesus is my Lord. I want him to be in charge of my life because I have stuffed it all up by doing what I wanted. And I do believe that he rose from the dead. Are you sure that is all I need to do?” Uncle Simon inquired again. “I still feel that I need to pay for what I’ve done”.
Uncle Ben smiled his lovely big smile and said, “It has been paid! Jesus paid for all our sins when he died on the cross; there is nothing else that we need to do. It is the same as the degravinator; It wouldn’t make sense to pay me for it because the debt has already been paid. In the same way, Jesus has paid for all our failures and so there is nothing keeping us apart from the love of God.”
“You know what, though?” interjected Michael, “I am reminded that we do really need to let Jesus be in control of our life. That is the only way to live an extra-ordinary life and that is what I want to do. It is very easy to say I want to do things my way, and I have to remember to ask Jesus what he wants me to do instead.”
“Oh yes,” agreed Lilly “and we all fail to do the very best at some times, but it is so great to know that God loves us and Jesus has already paid anything that we owe God.”
“Ah…” said Uncle Ben, “and because God loves, accepts and forgives us, we really should love, accept and forgive each other.”
Yep, yep, yep! And right there in the kitchen they all forgave, accepted and loved each other.
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Reflection on readings for 17th Feb 2013 LENT 1
Year C First Sunday in Lent 17 February 2013
Deuteronomy 26: 1-11 Psalm 91: 1-2, 9-16 Romans 10: 8b-13 Luke 4: 1-13
The concept of failure has come up a lot in my life this last couple of weeks. Perhaps it is no coincidence then to note that we begin this journey into Lent with the story of Jesus temptation in the desert. Unlike us, Jesus’ story is not one of failure, but of victory.
In the last week I’ve had conversations about failure, and I’ve said that it is vulnerability that leads to failure. In the past there have been responses made to circumstances that have been less than exemplary and the main thing that I have learnt from the experience was that when there is vulnerability in our life we are way more likely to make the same mistake over and over again. Very silly, but this seems to be the way it is.
Vulnerability in our spiritual journey is inevitable while we remain in this human body, but the more that we spend time and effort in our relationship with God, this less we should be vulnerable, as we see from the example of Jesus.
Although we begin the Lenten journey with the story of Jesus’ temptation in the desert, the readings for this week are all very much about the victory and provision of God. The first reading describes the gift that the Israelites were to make to God in thanks for his bringing them out of the wandering and persecuted past to a land flowing with milk and honey. Jesus was 40 days in the desert and the Israelites were 40 years in the desert.
Luke 4:1-2 “Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished.”
Jesus had just had an amazing experience of being baptized and having God speak to him words of confirmation and assurance – “You are my beloved Son….” , and with this the Spirit of God led him out to the wilderness. Similarly, the Israelites had been rescued from Egypt through the Red Sea – a huge confirmation of God’s favour to the nation, and then they were in the wilderness….. and they were tempted and the fell to the temptation continuously and at every turn.
We would be incredibly foolish if we think for a second that we, in the same situation, would fare any differently from those Israelites – a stubborn and stiff necked people…. And so are we. In fact, our turning to God is like a Red sea miracle – we celebrate it with baptism… and then we find ourselves in very much in the wilderness….
Jesus was fully human and fully vulnerable. We read that he was famished and his first temptation is for food. We know that the Israelites in the desert cried out to God for food… actually they grumbled first and sinned. Jesus waits. Jesus knows that God had a purpose for his life and that he was not going to die there in the desert, so when he is tempted by the devil Jesus responds with scripture.
It is important to note that in the encounter with the devil in the desert, that both Jesus and the devil used scripture. Many times people might quote scripture to back their point of view, but scripture alone can be the work of the devil!
I feel I should leave some more space for thought about my last statement……
Our Psalm for this week is the scripture that the devil was quoting to Jesus:
Psalm 91:11-12 “For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.”
This is a Psalm that promises the protection of God. Certainly Jesus had God’s provision and protection, but it certainly didn’t always seem that way, and when we look at his life and his crucifixion as an outsider, we could logically conclude that Jesus did not have God’s protection. But we know that Jesus did have God’s protection – the crucifixion was part of the plan.
To properly and fully understand and quote scripture correctly, we need to also have the spirit of God. Without the Holy Spirit we could very well be doing the devil’s work and abusing the word of God.
There were three things with which the devil tempted Jesus; food, authority over the kingdoms of the world and supernatural protection, but underlying these temptations was a condition. The first temptation was offered that IF he was the Son of God, then he should be able to make instant food. We know that later in Jesus ministry he did just that, but this temptation was based on the implication that Jesus needed to prove who he was. The devil indicated doubt about Jesus being the Son of God. Jesus answered with scripture, and stood firm in relying on the mercy of God the father, rather than demanding what God would give him.
Many a modern Christian might claim the promises of God and I wonder if they are giving in to the temptation of the devil rather than trusting in a calm knowledge that God’s will be done. We submit our cares to God, knowing that he cares for us – we demand nothing.
God does want good things for us. When we truly know God, we can be led by the Holy Spirit and accept the wilderness knowing that ultimately God will bring about blessing, maybe not in this lifetime, but for certain the blessing will come.
Many have noted that Jesus could stand against the temptation because he knew the scripture, but I have added to this that we need more than knowing the scripture. We need to know the scripture and we need the Holy Spirit and we need to know God…. Personally.
The other temptations that Jesus faced were to do with access to authority and supernatural power. As the Son of God these belonged to Jesus, but he was operating as fully human and not as God. Therefore he did what we are to do and that is to fully rely on God. (F.R.O.G.)
Every now and then it becomes obvious to me that the Occult is rearing its head. Once upon a time I had no idea what the Occult involved and thought it was simply extreme Satan worship – through personal experience I came to realize that it involved things as every day and seemingly (but NOT) harmless as reading your horoscope. I have some lovely and spiritual friends who dabble in things, and I’m not sure how to tell them that they are playing with fire, but here we see how simply we can be enticed. Things happen in our lives and we desire control over them…. What do we do?
We can use a little “religion” and, like the devil, we can quote the scripture and demand the promise of God for protection – an example might be the wearing of a religious medal for protection. Those dabbling more in the occult might wear a charm or a crystal, or a special scent. It seems harmless and it seems like we are invoking the protection of God…. But are we???????
Romans 10:9-10 “because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved. The scripture says, ‘No one who believes in him will be put to shame.’”
Becoming a Christian is a simple thing, and it comes with reassurances, but it means that we have to acknowledge that we need a savior…. Because we do not have the control… we do not have the ability to save ourselves.
We need to “confess” our faith and “believe” in our hearts (with every fiber of our being). It is in our believing that we are justified, and with our confessing that we are saved. There is no other action which can demand a blessing from God- so any good deed to earn God’s favour is just not good enough. Our good deeds need to be out of a response to His goodness, not motivated by a sense of controlling the blessings of God – it doesn’t work that way.
We are saved by God’s grace and our lives are in his hands. The early apostles were incredibly exemplary in the actions of their lives and they were often martyred. What does this tell us? No action on our part will force God’s hand. But like Jesus we need to know – KNOW – the love of God, be led by his Holy Spirit and submit to the will of God. Scripture tells us that God cares for us and wants good things for us, but submitting our desires to God and waiting for his response shows our trust and faith in him.
This is the beginning of our Lenten journey. It is a call to give our whole lives completely into the hands of God. It is only in this way that we can truly please him and not be unwittingly doing the devil’s work.
Deuteronomy 26: 1-11 Psalm 91: 1-2, 9-16 Romans 10: 8b-13 Luke 4: 1-13
The concept of failure has come up a lot in my life this last couple of weeks. Perhaps it is no coincidence then to note that we begin this journey into Lent with the story of Jesus temptation in the desert. Unlike us, Jesus’ story is not one of failure, but of victory.
In the last week I’ve had conversations about failure, and I’ve said that it is vulnerability that leads to failure. In the past there have been responses made to circumstances that have been less than exemplary and the main thing that I have learnt from the experience was that when there is vulnerability in our life we are way more likely to make the same mistake over and over again. Very silly, but this seems to be the way it is.
Vulnerability in our spiritual journey is inevitable while we remain in this human body, but the more that we spend time and effort in our relationship with God, this less we should be vulnerable, as we see from the example of Jesus.
Although we begin the Lenten journey with the story of Jesus’ temptation in the desert, the readings for this week are all very much about the victory and provision of God. The first reading describes the gift that the Israelites were to make to God in thanks for his bringing them out of the wandering and persecuted past to a land flowing with milk and honey. Jesus was 40 days in the desert and the Israelites were 40 years in the desert.
Luke 4:1-2 “Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished.”
Jesus had just had an amazing experience of being baptized and having God speak to him words of confirmation and assurance – “You are my beloved Son….” , and with this the Spirit of God led him out to the wilderness. Similarly, the Israelites had been rescued from Egypt through the Red Sea – a huge confirmation of God’s favour to the nation, and then they were in the wilderness….. and they were tempted and the fell to the temptation continuously and at every turn.
We would be incredibly foolish if we think for a second that we, in the same situation, would fare any differently from those Israelites – a stubborn and stiff necked people…. And so are we. In fact, our turning to God is like a Red sea miracle – we celebrate it with baptism… and then we find ourselves in very much in the wilderness….
Jesus was fully human and fully vulnerable. We read that he was famished and his first temptation is for food. We know that the Israelites in the desert cried out to God for food… actually they grumbled first and sinned. Jesus waits. Jesus knows that God had a purpose for his life and that he was not going to die there in the desert, so when he is tempted by the devil Jesus responds with scripture.
It is important to note that in the encounter with the devil in the desert, that both Jesus and the devil used scripture. Many times people might quote scripture to back their point of view, but scripture alone can be the work of the devil!
I feel I should leave some more space for thought about my last statement……
Our Psalm for this week is the scripture that the devil was quoting to Jesus:
Psalm 91:11-12 “For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.”
This is a Psalm that promises the protection of God. Certainly Jesus had God’s provision and protection, but it certainly didn’t always seem that way, and when we look at his life and his crucifixion as an outsider, we could logically conclude that Jesus did not have God’s protection. But we know that Jesus did have God’s protection – the crucifixion was part of the plan.
To properly and fully understand and quote scripture correctly, we need to also have the spirit of God. Without the Holy Spirit we could very well be doing the devil’s work and abusing the word of God.
There were three things with which the devil tempted Jesus; food, authority over the kingdoms of the world and supernatural protection, but underlying these temptations was a condition. The first temptation was offered that IF he was the Son of God, then he should be able to make instant food. We know that later in Jesus ministry he did just that, but this temptation was based on the implication that Jesus needed to prove who he was. The devil indicated doubt about Jesus being the Son of God. Jesus answered with scripture, and stood firm in relying on the mercy of God the father, rather than demanding what God would give him.
Many a modern Christian might claim the promises of God and I wonder if they are giving in to the temptation of the devil rather than trusting in a calm knowledge that God’s will be done. We submit our cares to God, knowing that he cares for us – we demand nothing.
God does want good things for us. When we truly know God, we can be led by the Holy Spirit and accept the wilderness knowing that ultimately God will bring about blessing, maybe not in this lifetime, but for certain the blessing will come.
Many have noted that Jesus could stand against the temptation because he knew the scripture, but I have added to this that we need more than knowing the scripture. We need to know the scripture and we need the Holy Spirit and we need to know God…. Personally.
The other temptations that Jesus faced were to do with access to authority and supernatural power. As the Son of God these belonged to Jesus, but he was operating as fully human and not as God. Therefore he did what we are to do and that is to fully rely on God. (F.R.O.G.)
Every now and then it becomes obvious to me that the Occult is rearing its head. Once upon a time I had no idea what the Occult involved and thought it was simply extreme Satan worship – through personal experience I came to realize that it involved things as every day and seemingly (but NOT) harmless as reading your horoscope. I have some lovely and spiritual friends who dabble in things, and I’m not sure how to tell them that they are playing with fire, but here we see how simply we can be enticed. Things happen in our lives and we desire control over them…. What do we do?
We can use a little “religion” and, like the devil, we can quote the scripture and demand the promise of God for protection – an example might be the wearing of a religious medal for protection. Those dabbling more in the occult might wear a charm or a crystal, or a special scent. It seems harmless and it seems like we are invoking the protection of God…. But are we???????
Romans 10:9-10 “because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved. The scripture says, ‘No one who believes in him will be put to shame.’”
Becoming a Christian is a simple thing, and it comes with reassurances, but it means that we have to acknowledge that we need a savior…. Because we do not have the control… we do not have the ability to save ourselves.
We need to “confess” our faith and “believe” in our hearts (with every fiber of our being). It is in our believing that we are justified, and with our confessing that we are saved. There is no other action which can demand a blessing from God- so any good deed to earn God’s favour is just not good enough. Our good deeds need to be out of a response to His goodness, not motivated by a sense of controlling the blessings of God – it doesn’t work that way.
We are saved by God’s grace and our lives are in his hands. The early apostles were incredibly exemplary in the actions of their lives and they were often martyred. What does this tell us? No action on our part will force God’s hand. But like Jesus we need to know – KNOW – the love of God, be led by his Holy Spirit and submit to the will of God. Scripture tells us that God cares for us and wants good things for us, but submitting our desires to God and waiting for his response shows our trust and faith in him.
This is the beginning of our Lenten journey. It is a call to give our whole lives completely into the hands of God. It is only in this way that we can truly please him and not be unwittingly doing the devil’s work.
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Reflection for 3rd Feb 2013
Year C 4th Sunday after the Epiphany 3 February 2013
Jeremiah 1: 4-10 Psalm 71: 1-6 1 Corinthians 13: 1-13 Luke 4: 21-30
Here in Australia, a land far removed from Israel, we find the Church, the people of God. We are people that God has called and God has chosen. How is this possible that God, who revealed himself as the God of the small nation of Israel, has become the God of so many all over the world?
This week’s readings proclaim God’s care, plan and calling for us all. They warn us of the rejection and hardships that may be faced and comfort us with God’s promise to deliver us. The readings also challenge us to listen to the prophets in our midst, but as prophets, we are reminded to make love our focus, our aim and our purpose.
Luke 4: 24-26 “And he said, ‘Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s home town. But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up for three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land; yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon.”
The reason that people all over the world have come to know about the saving love of Jesus is in part because this message was rejected by the very people that Jesus came to save. Of course it was always part of God’s plan that all nations would be blessed through the Messiah, and the example that is given from the Old Testament scriptures is used by St. Luke to confirm to his non-Jewish readers that God sends his message and his love to all.
There is, however, a very definite warning in the Gospel of Luke to those who reject the message of God because they see the messenger as being just an ordinary bloke… or for that matter, an ordinary woman.
Sorry… but I have to bring this up. You see, I am a woman… kind of ordinary – depends on who you talk to Sometimes rather annoying. But, to get away from me and back to the point; God once used a donkey to get his message to someone. He actually made the donkey speak!!! But here in the 21st century, there are still many who don’t think we should have women preachers. Hmmm…. A donkey can give God’s message but not a female. Please tell me the logical reason behind this?
The same kind of ridicules bias is found from denomination to denomination. There exists a preconceived idea that certain people from certain denominations will be a certain way and preach a certain thing and therefore either be worth listening to or not worth listening to depending on their denomination rather than on what they actually say.
I’m guessing this is ironic. We read the Gospels and take it all so seriously that we call ourselves the people of God and yet we fail to understand what God is saying. We think that we are the good guys in the Gospel stories, but in actual fact, we are the ones Christ was trying to warn against…. Those who rejected the prophets..
How much do you love Jeremiah? I have a big soft spot for the bloke. His is an amazing story about a prophet who knew that God had called him. He knew that God had chosen him and that his was a destiny written by God. He knew that God formed him and knew him in his mother’s womb and that all of his days were known to God. He had a calling, he was chosen, he was destined….. sounds so awesome and amazing… but….. When God say’s don’t be afraid, there is usually a good reason to fear, and this is what God said to Jeremiah.
Jeremiah 1:6-8 “Then I said, ‘Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy.’ But the Lord said to me, ‘Do not say, “I am only a boy”; for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and you shall speak whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord.’”
Just to reassure you, God’s message through the prophet Jeremiah was rejected and he was even thrown in jail. Those of his own people, God’s own people, did not acknowledge Jeremiah’s message.
So, if history is to teach us anything, we should be listening very hard and taking note of ourselves and our biases, because Jeremiah, this great and true messenger of God was rejected by his own “religious” people, and Jesus, the promised Messiah, was rejected by his own “religious” people. What prophets are we rejecting today because we “know” them / they are the son or daughter of a certain denomination, etc.. ?
Luke 4:22-25 “All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, ‘Is not this Joseph’s son?’ He said to them, ‘Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, “Doctor, cure yourself!” And you will say, “Do here also in your home town the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.”’ And he said, ‘Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s home town.”
Do you ever wonder if Jesus came to downtown Aussie town, whether we would reject him? What would he look like? Doing street chaplaincy has brought about some interesting conversations and this was one subject that came up and I declared rather strongly that Jesus would probably have tattoos and fit in just fine down the street.
This was met with some disagreement…. Of course we know from the television show, The Big Bang Theory, that Jews can’t have tattoos… but if Jesus came to downtown Aussie town instead of Jerusalem, I don’t think the Jewish dos and don’ts would matter much…. God’s dos and don’ts ..yes they would matter!!! But that is where the argument was on the knife edge, because the Old Testament does actually mention not to have tattoos…… but there was a religious significance about those tattoos, most Aussie tattoos are for various commemorative and decorative purposes – and are skin deep. In fact all this brings me to this week’s New Testament reading.
1 Corinthians 13:1-3 “If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.”
I think that about sums it up. End of argument. When we reject anyone, when we refuse to acknowledge the God given gifts that they offer, yet confess to be Christian, we are showing ourselves to be hypocritical Pharisees. – And we are rejecting Christ himself.
There are times for discernment and for speaking the truth, but the purpose of a harsh prophecy is to ultimately promote truth and love.
Jeremiah 1:10 “ See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.’
When we build a garden there is often some breaking up and tearing down before the plant can be established. Prophets today don’t say anything new. God’s word is complete. But the Prophets of today see the bigger picture and when the church and individuals in it are going astray…. It isn’t really that hard to discern whether we’ve gone astray when we read from the letter to the Corinthians and see a picture of how our church life should be.
I’m going to be a little bold and suggest that if our Church and we as Christians do not have this kind of love then we need to stop having any judgment on anyone else until it does.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 “Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”
To be honest, we know from the next part of the reading that we will never have it completely right in this mortal shell, as we are told that now, we see things in part, but when we see Jesus face to face, we will then see things fully and know completely. Until then, we strive with God to be perfect in love, but resting and rejoicing that it is enough to strive, because our own failings have been covered by the all-consuming and perfect love of God.
Jeremiah 1: 4-10 Psalm 71: 1-6 1 Corinthians 13: 1-13 Luke 4: 21-30
Here in Australia, a land far removed from Israel, we find the Church, the people of God. We are people that God has called and God has chosen. How is this possible that God, who revealed himself as the God of the small nation of Israel, has become the God of so many all over the world?
This week’s readings proclaim God’s care, plan and calling for us all. They warn us of the rejection and hardships that may be faced and comfort us with God’s promise to deliver us. The readings also challenge us to listen to the prophets in our midst, but as prophets, we are reminded to make love our focus, our aim and our purpose.
Luke 4: 24-26 “And he said, ‘Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s home town. But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up for three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land; yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon.”
The reason that people all over the world have come to know about the saving love of Jesus is in part because this message was rejected by the very people that Jesus came to save. Of course it was always part of God’s plan that all nations would be blessed through the Messiah, and the example that is given from the Old Testament scriptures is used by St. Luke to confirm to his non-Jewish readers that God sends his message and his love to all.
There is, however, a very definite warning in the Gospel of Luke to those who reject the message of God because they see the messenger as being just an ordinary bloke… or for that matter, an ordinary woman.
Sorry… but I have to bring this up. You see, I am a woman… kind of ordinary – depends on who you talk to Sometimes rather annoying. But, to get away from me and back to the point; God once used a donkey to get his message to someone. He actually made the donkey speak!!! But here in the 21st century, there are still many who don’t think we should have women preachers. Hmmm…. A donkey can give God’s message but not a female. Please tell me the logical reason behind this?
The same kind of ridicules bias is found from denomination to denomination. There exists a preconceived idea that certain people from certain denominations will be a certain way and preach a certain thing and therefore either be worth listening to or not worth listening to depending on their denomination rather than on what they actually say.
I’m guessing this is ironic. We read the Gospels and take it all so seriously that we call ourselves the people of God and yet we fail to understand what God is saying. We think that we are the good guys in the Gospel stories, but in actual fact, we are the ones Christ was trying to warn against…. Those who rejected the prophets..
How much do you love Jeremiah? I have a big soft spot for the bloke. His is an amazing story about a prophet who knew that God had called him. He knew that God had chosen him and that his was a destiny written by God. He knew that God formed him and knew him in his mother’s womb and that all of his days were known to God. He had a calling, he was chosen, he was destined….. sounds so awesome and amazing… but….. When God say’s don’t be afraid, there is usually a good reason to fear, and this is what God said to Jeremiah.
Jeremiah 1:6-8 “Then I said, ‘Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy.’ But the Lord said to me, ‘Do not say, “I am only a boy”; for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and you shall speak whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord.’”
Just to reassure you, God’s message through the prophet Jeremiah was rejected and he was even thrown in jail. Those of his own people, God’s own people, did not acknowledge Jeremiah’s message.
So, if history is to teach us anything, we should be listening very hard and taking note of ourselves and our biases, because Jeremiah, this great and true messenger of God was rejected by his own “religious” people, and Jesus, the promised Messiah, was rejected by his own “religious” people. What prophets are we rejecting today because we “know” them / they are the son or daughter of a certain denomination, etc.. ?
Luke 4:22-25 “All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, ‘Is not this Joseph’s son?’ He said to them, ‘Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, “Doctor, cure yourself!” And you will say, “Do here also in your home town the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.”’ And he said, ‘Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s home town.”
Do you ever wonder if Jesus came to downtown Aussie town, whether we would reject him? What would he look like? Doing street chaplaincy has brought about some interesting conversations and this was one subject that came up and I declared rather strongly that Jesus would probably have tattoos and fit in just fine down the street.
This was met with some disagreement…. Of course we know from the television show, The Big Bang Theory, that Jews can’t have tattoos… but if Jesus came to downtown Aussie town instead of Jerusalem, I don’t think the Jewish dos and don’ts would matter much…. God’s dos and don’ts ..yes they would matter!!! But that is where the argument was on the knife edge, because the Old Testament does actually mention not to have tattoos…… but there was a religious significance about those tattoos, most Aussie tattoos are for various commemorative and decorative purposes – and are skin deep. In fact all this brings me to this week’s New Testament reading.
1 Corinthians 13:1-3 “If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.”
I think that about sums it up. End of argument. When we reject anyone, when we refuse to acknowledge the God given gifts that they offer, yet confess to be Christian, we are showing ourselves to be hypocritical Pharisees. – And we are rejecting Christ himself.
There are times for discernment and for speaking the truth, but the purpose of a harsh prophecy is to ultimately promote truth and love.
Jeremiah 1:10 “ See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.’
When we build a garden there is often some breaking up and tearing down before the plant can be established. Prophets today don’t say anything new. God’s word is complete. But the Prophets of today see the bigger picture and when the church and individuals in it are going astray…. It isn’t really that hard to discern whether we’ve gone astray when we read from the letter to the Corinthians and see a picture of how our church life should be.
I’m going to be a little bold and suggest that if our Church and we as Christians do not have this kind of love then we need to stop having any judgment on anyone else until it does.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 “Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”
To be honest, we know from the next part of the reading that we will never have it completely right in this mortal shell, as we are told that now, we see things in part, but when we see Jesus face to face, we will then see things fully and know completely. Until then, we strive with God to be perfect in love, but resting and rejoicing that it is enough to strive, because our own failings have been covered by the all-consuming and perfect love of God.
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Australia Day Reflection 26 Jan 2013
AUSTRALIA DAY
Jeremiah 29:4-14 Psalm 33:12-21 1 Thessalonians 5:12-24 John 8:31-36
Australia Day always begs the question of our Australian identity. We have the indigenous Australians who see Australia Day as a bit of an insult and we have plenty who see Australians as those easy going larrikins who love a beer or six. In the middle of this are those who are just a little confused trying to figure out how we are any different to any other nation in this era of Globalization.
Before we look at the readings I’d like to have a look at the name “Australia”. Every name means something, and Australia means, “South Land”, and it obvious that our land is a great land in the southern hemisphere. Before the explorers came and named it Australia, it had no other name. There were indigenous living here but they consisted of many different tribes with many different languages – there was no name for Australia.
Throughout the Bible we see that God is big on naming things. Naming things gives them a purpose, a story, an identity, a place in history, and a future. The history of Australia certainly has some similarities with the ancient Israelites, because just as those people were taken into exile in foreign lands against their will, so too many of the early Australians were settled in Australia as convicts sent to the colony against their will. Oh, and don’t forget that the Israelites were sent into exile because of their sin…. However, our God of love and grace says this to them:
Jeremiah 29:4-7 ““This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.””
Australia has been a country that began in strife, but flourished and prospered greatly.
Psalm 33:12 “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people he chose for his inheritance.”
Our psalm for this week tells us about how a king is not saved by a great army, but by the will of God. There are so many stories of the weaker army prevailing because of their reliance on God and in Australia’s history there is grounding in Christianity that bore the fruits of God’s provision.
There are those today who will deny our Christian heritage, but this Christian heritage is historical fact. Even now, although we, as a country, have drifted a long way from our Christian heritage, our public holidays proclaim the lingering blessings of Christianity and we acknowledge Good Friday as a holiday where there are less shops open than any other day. Then of course we have Easter and Christmas as a testimony to our Christianity – and fast becoming a testimony to our new religion of materialism.
1 Thessalonians 5:12-15 “Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to acknowledge those who work hard among you, who care for you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other. And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone. Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else.”
We are to be different from the people who do not confess a belief in Christ. What this means is that we will have an attitude that enables the Gospel to be preached without us needing to say a word. And this attitude is what we find defined in the letter to the Thessalonians. Sadly, we are falling short. Do we really acknowledge those who care for us in the Lord? And heaven forbid that they should admonish us!!! We are told to hold them in highest regard in love. And they’ll know we are Christians by our love…. This is how we prosper as a church…
The letter continues to exhort us to live in peace with each other and not be idle or disruptive… we are to encourage the disheartened, help the weak and be patient with everyone – never paying back wrong for wrong, but always striving to do what is good. To live this way is in direct contrast to the world. It always makes me cringe when I hear of people making judgments – and putting others down – and I would have to say it is heard as often in the church – sometimes way more, than it is outside – and this is a terrible testimony and completely contradictory to the ways of God.
Our Gospel reading presents another challenge. Jesus speaks with the Jews who believed him and tells them that if they remain in his word they will then know the truth and the truth will set them free.
I’m thinking that this means it isn’t enough to fill in your census form and mark the religion box as being Christian. This has an implication for us personally as well as for Australia as a country. These were believers who were with Jesus and he tells them that they need to remain in his word. There is freedom for us and good news for our Country if we, and it, remain in HIS word. As a country we are falling, falling, falling. Faith matters less and less and no one cares that they don’t always attend church. We think that as long as we “believe”, then we have our golden ticket, but Jesus is very clearly stating that we need to remain in his word to know the truth and to be free.
Why do we need more than just believing? Because without remaining in Jesus, we get lost. Let me give you an example. I was challenged by some teenage students about the book The Divinci Code. There are a whole lot of theories about Jesus that are presented in that book which are so far beyond credible that I couldn’t even read it as the piece of FICTION that it is intended to be. I could immediate spot the blatant flaws, but many people were so impressed that they took on many of the lies as truth.
AND the truth really will set you free. One of my little pet sayings is, “if it doesn’t seem like Good News”- then you haven’t got the Gospel. There is more to the way of God than what we see in black and white print. We need to know the cultural setting, the history and traditions to understand the heart of what was being said and we need the wisdom of each other AND more than anything else, we need the spirit of Jesus.
John 8:34-36 “Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”
The truth sets us free, and the Son sets us free. The truth is Jesus. We can read a person’s biography and think that we know all about them, but it is often not unless you have a personal relationship with that person that you can really know what they think and feel. This is especially true if we need to come to a decision about things that are not written…. We need to know Jesus, speak with him and let him speak to us.
We need the light of Jesus – the truth to enlighten our minds.
On our Australia Day it is worth recalling the story of Christianity to the Torres Strait Islanders. They mark the anniversary of this with a festival called “The Coming of the Light”:
“One Saturday evening, 1st July 1871, the Reverend Samuel MacFarlane of the London Missionary Society anchored at Erub (Darnley Island). The Society had been active in the Southwest Pacific since the 1840’s converting people to Christianity.
Dabad, a Warrior Clan Elder on Erub, “defied his Tribal Law” and openly welcomed the London Missionary Society clergymen and South Sea Islander evangelists and teachers. Torres Strait Islanders acknowledgment of the missionaries was the acceptance of a change that would profoundly affect every aspect of life in the Torres Strait from that time onwards.” http://www.southbank.qm.qld.gov.au/Events+and+Exhibitions/Exhibitions/Permanent/Dandiiri+Maiwar/Torres+Strait+Islander+resilience/Coming+of+the+light
I spent some time in Cairns and did some theological studies with the indigenous theology students. It was explained to me that these people had God…. They knew God, but they didn’t know Jesus. There was a prophecy among them about a man who would come and bring the light. The tribe had been cannibalistic before this time and so it was such a huge miracle of God to prepare them in such a way that it was immediately recognized that this missionary was the one prophesied about who was bringing the light.
We, and the rest of Australia, need the light of truth. We’ve been asleep in the light for such a long time that we allowed the light to grow dim. We’ve been accepting lies as truth and thinking that truth are lies. We need the enlightenment of the spirit of Jesus. We need to claim this land as did the Spanish explorer Pedro Fernandes de Queirós in May of 1606 and name this land, Australia del Espiritu Santo – (Great Southland of the Holy Spirit).
Just as the Israelite exiles had children in foreign lands, who grew up knowing no other home, most of us call Australia home. We’ve been here so many generations now that there is only one other place that we call home and that is heaven. While we are on this earth and part of this country we belong to no other and we are to pray for it and care for it as if our own. In this way the country will prosper according to God’s will and we in turn will prosper – and this is God’s will for us and for our country…..
Jeremiah 29:11-13 ““For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.””
Jeremiah 29:4-14 Psalm 33:12-21 1 Thessalonians 5:12-24 John 8:31-36
Australia Day always begs the question of our Australian identity. We have the indigenous Australians who see Australia Day as a bit of an insult and we have plenty who see Australians as those easy going larrikins who love a beer or six. In the middle of this are those who are just a little confused trying to figure out how we are any different to any other nation in this era of Globalization.
Before we look at the readings I’d like to have a look at the name “Australia”. Every name means something, and Australia means, “South Land”, and it obvious that our land is a great land in the southern hemisphere. Before the explorers came and named it Australia, it had no other name. There were indigenous living here but they consisted of many different tribes with many different languages – there was no name for Australia.
Throughout the Bible we see that God is big on naming things. Naming things gives them a purpose, a story, an identity, a place in history, and a future. The history of Australia certainly has some similarities with the ancient Israelites, because just as those people were taken into exile in foreign lands against their will, so too many of the early Australians were settled in Australia as convicts sent to the colony against their will. Oh, and don’t forget that the Israelites were sent into exile because of their sin…. However, our God of love and grace says this to them:
Jeremiah 29:4-7 ““This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.””
Australia has been a country that began in strife, but flourished and prospered greatly.
Psalm 33:12 “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people he chose for his inheritance.”
Our psalm for this week tells us about how a king is not saved by a great army, but by the will of God. There are so many stories of the weaker army prevailing because of their reliance on God and in Australia’s history there is grounding in Christianity that bore the fruits of God’s provision.
There are those today who will deny our Christian heritage, but this Christian heritage is historical fact. Even now, although we, as a country, have drifted a long way from our Christian heritage, our public holidays proclaim the lingering blessings of Christianity and we acknowledge Good Friday as a holiday where there are less shops open than any other day. Then of course we have Easter and Christmas as a testimony to our Christianity – and fast becoming a testimony to our new religion of materialism.
1 Thessalonians 5:12-15 “Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to acknowledge those who work hard among you, who care for you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other. And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone. Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else.”
We are to be different from the people who do not confess a belief in Christ. What this means is that we will have an attitude that enables the Gospel to be preached without us needing to say a word. And this attitude is what we find defined in the letter to the Thessalonians. Sadly, we are falling short. Do we really acknowledge those who care for us in the Lord? And heaven forbid that they should admonish us!!! We are told to hold them in highest regard in love. And they’ll know we are Christians by our love…. This is how we prosper as a church…
The letter continues to exhort us to live in peace with each other and not be idle or disruptive… we are to encourage the disheartened, help the weak and be patient with everyone – never paying back wrong for wrong, but always striving to do what is good. To live this way is in direct contrast to the world. It always makes me cringe when I hear of people making judgments – and putting others down – and I would have to say it is heard as often in the church – sometimes way more, than it is outside – and this is a terrible testimony and completely contradictory to the ways of God.
Our Gospel reading presents another challenge. Jesus speaks with the Jews who believed him and tells them that if they remain in his word they will then know the truth and the truth will set them free.
I’m thinking that this means it isn’t enough to fill in your census form and mark the religion box as being Christian. This has an implication for us personally as well as for Australia as a country. These were believers who were with Jesus and he tells them that they need to remain in his word. There is freedom for us and good news for our Country if we, and it, remain in HIS word. As a country we are falling, falling, falling. Faith matters less and less and no one cares that they don’t always attend church. We think that as long as we “believe”, then we have our golden ticket, but Jesus is very clearly stating that we need to remain in his word to know the truth and to be free.
Why do we need more than just believing? Because without remaining in Jesus, we get lost. Let me give you an example. I was challenged by some teenage students about the book The Divinci Code. There are a whole lot of theories about Jesus that are presented in that book which are so far beyond credible that I couldn’t even read it as the piece of FICTION that it is intended to be. I could immediate spot the blatant flaws, but many people were so impressed that they took on many of the lies as truth.
AND the truth really will set you free. One of my little pet sayings is, “if it doesn’t seem like Good News”- then you haven’t got the Gospel. There is more to the way of God than what we see in black and white print. We need to know the cultural setting, the history and traditions to understand the heart of what was being said and we need the wisdom of each other AND more than anything else, we need the spirit of Jesus.
John 8:34-36 “Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”
The truth sets us free, and the Son sets us free. The truth is Jesus. We can read a person’s biography and think that we know all about them, but it is often not unless you have a personal relationship with that person that you can really know what they think and feel. This is especially true if we need to come to a decision about things that are not written…. We need to know Jesus, speak with him and let him speak to us.
We need the light of Jesus – the truth to enlighten our minds.
On our Australia Day it is worth recalling the story of Christianity to the Torres Strait Islanders. They mark the anniversary of this with a festival called “The Coming of the Light”:
“One Saturday evening, 1st July 1871, the Reverend Samuel MacFarlane of the London Missionary Society anchored at Erub (Darnley Island). The Society had been active in the Southwest Pacific since the 1840’s converting people to Christianity.
Dabad, a Warrior Clan Elder on Erub, “defied his Tribal Law” and openly welcomed the London Missionary Society clergymen and South Sea Islander evangelists and teachers. Torres Strait Islanders acknowledgment of the missionaries was the acceptance of a change that would profoundly affect every aspect of life in the Torres Strait from that time onwards.” http://www.southbank.qm.qld.gov.au/Events+and+Exhibitions/Exhibitions/Permanent/Dandiiri+Maiwar/Torres+Strait+Islander+resilience/Coming+of+the+light
I spent some time in Cairns and did some theological studies with the indigenous theology students. It was explained to me that these people had God…. They knew God, but they didn’t know Jesus. There was a prophecy among them about a man who would come and bring the light. The tribe had been cannibalistic before this time and so it was such a huge miracle of God to prepare them in such a way that it was immediately recognized that this missionary was the one prophesied about who was bringing the light.
We, and the rest of Australia, need the light of truth. We’ve been asleep in the light for such a long time that we allowed the light to grow dim. We’ve been accepting lies as truth and thinking that truth are lies. We need the enlightenment of the spirit of Jesus. We need to claim this land as did the Spanish explorer Pedro Fernandes de Queirós in May of 1606 and name this land, Australia del Espiritu Santo – (Great Southland of the Holy Spirit).
Just as the Israelite exiles had children in foreign lands, who grew up knowing no other home, most of us call Australia home. We’ve been here so many generations now that there is only one other place that we call home and that is heaven. While we are on this earth and part of this country we belong to no other and we are to pray for it and care for it as if our own. In this way the country will prosper according to God’s will and we in turn will prosper – and this is God’s will for us and for our country…..
Jeremiah 29:11-13 ““For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.””
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