All your doctrines lined up and in place.... 5th Sunday of Easter

FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER    Year C   April 24, 2016

 Acts 11:1-18   Psalm 148  Revelation 21:1-6 John 13:31-35

Recently I’ve been seeing a number of posts on facebook and hearing many people talk about being separate from those who are different.  Many of these are Christians who believe that they need to separate themselves from those who, according to them, do not interpret the word of God correctly and are therefore “unclean”.

After sadly stumbling upon a very derogatory video I felt compelled to post a status about how sad I felt.  The video talked about the problem of the world today being that “men love hores”.  Disgusting even to repeat, but this phrase was repeated over and over and described modern woman as being such.   The presenter of the video was a self-proclaimed man of God…. I would beg to differ! 

How interesting that our readings for this weekend present an opportunity for talking about this attitude that breeds judgement –this attitude which has an appearance of piety but is in fact a long way from the heart of God and is just down right wrong!

The first reading comes from Acts 11 and in verses 1-3 we read;  “Now the apostles and the believers who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also accepted the word of God.  So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him, saying, "Why did you go to uncircumcised men and eat with them?"

To explain; Gentile (uncircumcised) were considered “Unclean”.  Now, these who questioned are the very apostles who followed Jesus around during his ministry on earth.  Do you remember anything about that ministry?  Well let me remind you what these loyal Born Again and Spirit-filled followers had forgotten; Jesus was one who was often in trouble with the church officials because he hung out with the sinners.  He touched sick people (ie UNCLEAN) and he spoke with gentiles…. Even healing some of their sick.

OH… if you could hear me telling you this… you would see me most passionate!!!!   

 How can Born Again, Evangelical and Spirit-filled Christians have even asked Peter about eating with Gentiles, let alone criticized him???   And guess what…..???  Born Again, Evangelical and Spirit-filled Christians are still doing it!

There are those who will say that we must be separate from those bad old Catholics because they don’t have the right doctrine and therefore they are “Unclean”.  There are others that will say the same about the Pentecostals….  There are supposed Christians that will say you can only be a Christian if you keep the commandments – that means worshiping on the Sabbath…. Therefore all others are “UNCLEAN”.  And the list goes on…..

In the believers defence, they had been conditioned by their culture and by God’s own law, that there were certain traditions and very good laws that they must keep.  In fact God had to give Peter a very sure vision (3 times) about eating UNCLEAN food so that he would understand that God was telling him to BREAK that God-given law.

Now, why would God give a law and then tell Peter to break it?

Thinking….   Thinking…. Thinking…..

This is where common sense and the whole word of God must come together.  Those who get caught up in these things need to realize the instances in the Bible, the sacred word of God, when God’s law was broken and God was happy about it.  Studying these may serve better lessons than blindly and religiously keeping the Law - Which by the way, no one can perfectly do… only one did – but according the Pharisees and the Jewish religious officials, he, the Son of God, actually broke them….and so they crucified him.

In a time before refrigeration it only stands to reason that there needed to be some rules about food and UNCLEAN food was the more inclined to be quite practically troublesome.  There were also practical reasons that God demanded a religious separation….. God desired  the good of His chosen people whom he entrusted with His message and.... for starters, the cultures all around them believed in child and human sacrifices, and the Bible gives instances of God talking about this being an abomination.  So, yes… good reasons for this requirement, and yet there were still many times when blessings came through mixed unions… in fact these can be found in the human ancestry of Christ.

Even way back in that Old Testament, God had proclaimed that his people were to be a blessing to the world.  Jesus came and died for all, but how could his message reach the non-Jew if the Jews were not permitted to mix with others?  There were always converts to Judaism but that was not God’s plan…..  and still is not, He did not come to make us all Jews - though many confused Christians might encourage the adherence to those ancient Judaic laws and confuse you.

Peter was forgiven for his lapse in Jewish etiquette, when his critics saw that the Holy Spirit had been given to the gentiles, as this proved Gods approval.  How can you argue with that?  You can’t!  But in this day and age you will find that Christians can’t so easily recognise the Holy Spirit and where it is falling….  We forget to look for it.  I challenge us all to pray for our spiritual eyes to be opened…. In fact maybe the lack of the Holy Spirit is in our part and not in the “UNCLEAN”.

Let me tell you just a little about the other readings.  They talk about God dwelling with His people and making all things new…. Including Jerusalem.  This is not talking about a literal Jerusalem, but a spiritual one, indicating the precious home of God’s people and this includes us Gentiles – we are no longer UNCLEAN, we have been made clean by the gift of the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit came on the feast of Pentecost – Pentecost is the feast of the law…. A New Law was given on the very day of the feast of the Old law.

If I have not yet convinced you, let me point you toward our Gospel reading.  We read from the Gospel of John chapter 13:34-35 “ I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.  By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."

It is obvious to all those outsiders who look in at us that we are badly in need of a Holy Spirit revival, because they can see that there is no love.  The Holy Spirit comes to us, and is God dwelling in us…. God who saves and not condemns…. God who rescues and heals…. God who is love!  I’m so tired of the judging and rejecting.  Please let’s love instead.

EASTER

The traditional Churches have a traditional “Paschal Greeting” for this time of year.  One person says, “Christ is risen!” to which the other person replies, “He is risen indeed!”

I’m always aware of the contradictions held in our major Christian Holy Days.  There are many who will let you know, in no uncertain terms, that “Easter” was / is a pagan festival of fertility or life.  This is true, but not a reason to proclaim that the church is celebrating a pagan festival.  In fact, it is only the Christian church in our English speaking countries that would greet each other with, “Happy Easter”.  In Italy the greeting for this season is “Buona Pasqua!”

This greeting in Italy is basically translated, “Good Passover”.   Our “Paschal Greeting” is also descriptive of the Passover.

The Holy Passover that we celebrate as Christians needs to somehow be differentiated from the Jewish understanding because it IS different.  What shall we call it?  How can we make that distinction?

Looking into the etymology of the word “Easter’, it seems to be originally a word meaning “Dawn”… ie… the rising of the sun.  With this in mind we can see how this could have been a term used to distinguish the day of the resurrection.  This same word was also the name of a goddess of fertility and spring.   I’m only guessing now… but it would seem that this same word would be where we get the word EAST… as the direction in which the sun rises.

Was it Romeo or Juliet who proclaimed, “What’s in a name”?  Certainly there are people who will tell you that there is power in words.  I have to add that words and names are immersed in culture and without being immersed in that culture, and knowing for certain, we can only be guessing at the intentions of those who originally adopted the word “Easter”. 

I’m a creative person.  I like pictures, symbols and parables.  I like to use these things and see these things used to help people understand the deeper things of God.   I believe Jesus did too.

Last Easter I was feeling a bit disconnected from the celebration of Easter and happened to wonder into a McDonalds store for a late lunch where a lady had been doing kids face painting.  Somehow there was a connection with us and she offered to paint something on my arm.  I knew straight away that I needed a butterfly.  We conversed as she painted and I explained that a butterfly was a perfect Easter symbol for me.  It was a “God inspired moment for me”.  

The butterfly might not have the same significance for anyone else.  It worked for me, it connected me to God and yet it was just a butterfly painted on by an unbeliever.

What I’m saying here is that God wants us to connect with him.  Full Stop. 

Once we get past the name of this day, we can then deal with the meaning……  Christ, the Son of God, has risen!

There are numerous historical figures of whom there is less evidence of their reality, than of Jesus of Nazareth.  It is actually historical that this man lived.  It is noted by historians who are not Christians and therefore without bias.  However our recorded stories about him tell us that that he was put to death for claiming to be the Messiah, the Son of God….  This part also agrees with the historical accounts, but also the writings of his followers tell us that he rose from the dead.

If Christ did indeed rise from the dead, what does that mean?

For a start, it means that we should seriously take a look at what Jesus says and take notice.

It means HOPE.  Hope that there is purpose for this life, and assurance that there is life beyond. 

For me it tells me that God is!  I struggle to understand so many things and can’t make sense of many more, but of one thing I am certain, God Is!  And because God is, then I will continue to strive with him…. Strive to understand, strive to walk in his ways and strive to proclaim that which I do know to all, that here is the Good News.

The GIFT Reflection for Christmas 2015

Isaiah 9:2-7       Psalm 96   Titus 2:11-14      Luke 2:1-14, (15-20)

We’ve reached that amazing time of year once more.  The day that we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.  For most, this is simply the day that is set aside to celebrate the birth of a great historical figure.  For Christians what we celebrate is so much more and yet so hard to fully comprehend.

Our first reading begins in the reality of an historical time describe by Isaiah as “Darkness”. 

From Isaiah 9:2 “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness on them light has shined.”

We are no longer experiencing any “deep darkness”, are we? 

That was a rhetorical question because the people that I know, are experiencing some pretty deep dark this year.  There are at least three people, I know personally, who are to “celebrate” Christmas this year for the first time without their significant other alive.  Many more will be “celebrating” amidst the _-heartbreak of separation for so many other reasons.  Many in this area are struggling because they are out of work, sick and then there is also the deep dark that our society is in globally. 

We are living in a crazy contradiction of life, because Jesus Christ, the saviour, the messiah, has come… why are we in such deep dark?

This celebration of Christmas is one that we cannot afford to let pass without it being born in us, and while that may be a metaphor, if Christmas is nothing more than an ideology we really have missed the mark… and to “miss the mark”  is the literal definition of sin.  We don’t need to stay “in the dark” and in sin.

The birth of any great leader is often celebrated, but none more than this.  The reason being that Christians believe that this was no ordinary person who was born.  This was God made flesh.  The immortal creator and ruler of the universe, becomes the fragile and vulnerable creation.  He who is light and life is willing, for the love of humanity, to submerge himself into that world of deep darkness.

Our readings do not do not continue to focus on that deep darkness.  Even in that first line the sentence ends with light shining.  The coming of Christ is heralded as a time of great joy because there is an acknowledgement that they were in great need of a saviour.  The message before Christ’s ministry was to repent.  To repent, is essentially to reflect on the reality of your situation and acknowledge the darkness of your life and your need for change.  Is your world in need of change?

If you have already acknowledged the darkness in your life and tried to change it you will know what comes next.  Can you guess what it is?

Deeper darkness……!  Memes abound over social media promoting self-help and self-change.  These are great sounding to sound true to the naive… just as naïve as were Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden when the Serpent convinced them also that they could better their life….  Do we remember what happened there?

The reason for this deep darkness is fallen humanity and all the earth subject to decay because of it.  Just look around.  Are you concerned about the environment and climate change?  Humanity has not been a good steward of the earth and we could well say that fallen humanity has put greed above the good of the earth and caused our environmental problems. 

It certainly isn’t too big a jump to blame fallen humanity for so many other woes in our dark world.

So we’ve acknowledged the darkness and tried to change it, but due to the nature of fallen humanity, changing the darkness is beyond our ability.  We can try to change ourselves, but many of us even fail at that and at best might have some temporary success.  Honestly, this has been my experience.  We all do it. We try hard and sometimes see signs of light, but in the end you will be exhausted.  I am.

Thankfully God knew all this and had a better plan.

Titus 2:11 “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all,” 

We need to understand that “the grace of God”, means the undeserved favour of God.  We have salvation because of nothing that we are or do, but simply because God loves us.  It can best be described as the love a parent has for a favoured child who always does the wrong thing – everyone else might see the faults, but the parent looks with the eyes of love at something wonderful that only they can see.

But this unconditional love of God is wisdom also and it comes with the gift of the Holy Spirit bringing the presence of God, which affects change in the individual and then change in the community like ripples in a pond.  As Christians, we are anointed by our baptism to be an effective body of Christ in the community.

Titus 2:14 “He it is who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify for himself a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds.”

The result in us, of Christ’s coming, dying and rising, will be that we are people who are changed and eager to reflect God’s love.

I was wondering why the Angel announced the Good News about the birth of Christ, to shepherds.  I think the explanation given over years gone by was that these were the poor people and so it was God’s way of showing His love for all.  While this is true, I believe there is more to it.

Throughout the Bible, the image of the shepherd is used to describe how God cares for his sheep and also it illustrates the “Good” shepherd and compares this with those shepherds who scatter the sheep.  The Good News is given to the Shepherds, and we are now those shepherds.  The sheep are those in the world around us who God cared so much about that he died for them…. But they may not know it.  Will we be like the shepherds in the story and respond to the Good News by making a search for the saviour and by passing on the Good News?

Apparently there is more to these shepherds of Bethlehem.  From an article online; http://www.jesus.org/birth-of-jesus/shepherds-and-angels/why-did-the-angels-announce-jesuss-birth-to-shepherds.html

“Somewhere deep in Jewish tradition (revealed in writings called the Mishnah), a belief had arisen that the Messiah would be revealed from the Migdal Eder ("the tower of the flock"). This tower stood close to Bethlehem on the road to Jerusalem, and the sheep that pastured there were not the type used for ordinary purposes. The shepherds working there, in fact, took care of the temple-flocks, the sheep meant for sacrifice.

We can trust that God had a specific purpose for this shepherd audience, and the work they performed suggests the reason. These men who watched the sheep meant for the slaughter received a divine message about the ultimate Lamb who would take away the sins of the world through His death and resurrection.

(Adapted from The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah by Alfred Edersheim (Book II, Chapter VI).)

For those of us aware of the dark and longing for change, this message that the Angels bring, tell of a lamb that will take away sin.  This is no ordinary lamb, but the Lamb of God whose sacrifice is once and for all.  The Lamb of God is also the light of the world who stepped down into darkness.  He gives us eyes that can see in the dark, he can change our heart and most importantly he has restored

our fallen humanity, but we are like he was when he walked the earth – we live in a place of darkness.  Within us now we have the light – the light of Christ.  Just like Christ when he walked the earth, we hurt and we grieve, but like him, we can learn to walk in unity with God in a new reality of light.

 As Jesus said, in John 5:19 “Jesus gave them this answer: "Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.”

We live in a dark world, but we can walk in the light.  So… let us rest from our labours and vain attempts to manipulate others, ourselves and the world that is, and accept the gift that Christ gives us this Christmas.  For so many years I have thought that Christmas was a time of thinking like the carol of the little drummer boy and pondering what gift I could give to God.  I have had it all back to front.  The message of Christmas is that God gives us himself. 

Will we receive the gift He gives?

From little things... Reflection for 4th Sunday of Advent

Year C   Fourth Sunday of Advent   20 December 2015

Michah 5:2-5a   Psalm 80: 1-7 OR Luke 1:47-55     Hebrews 10:5-10    Luke 1:39-45, (46-55)

From Psalm 80 we hear a cry that might resonate with many of us:

Psalm 80:4 -7 “O LORD God of hosts, how long will you be angry with your people's prayers?   You have fed them with the bread of tears, and given them tears to drink in full measure. You make us the scorn of our neighbours; our enemies laugh among themselves.  Restore us, O God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved.”
 

It’s been quite a while since I last wrote a reflection.  Advent began and, to me, it is like a New Year’s Day and time for re-commitment – and getting back into writing.  However, I had a school Christmas concert to organise and so many other things.

Many times throughout 2015 I could relate to these words from Psalm 80.  It seemed like so many were against me, and being human, I wondered if I was being punished and sometimes, with my music and difficulty in getting gigs after being told I was one of the best that the venues had, I wondered if some of it was because I was out there on the streets of Mackay as a Street Chaplain and openly associated with church.

Sadly, as I’m sure you can imagine, rejection doesn’t just come from the secular community.  It has been there in the church also.  What I’ve discovered is that it doesn’t matter what you do to be accepted, some people will simply not accept you.  However, this is only the beginning of our readings for this weekend.  This is the reality that we start with.  Like the psalmist, we bring our feelings of inadequacy, rejection and hurt and we call out to God and say, “How long?”

Like the Psalmist, we may be at the end of our ability to press on, but here we are calling out to God for His intervention.  And there is hope…..

The first reading comes from the prophet Micah and offers a prophecy of hope:  Micah 5:3-6 “Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labour has brought forth; then the rest of his kindred shall return to the people of Israel.  And he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. And they shall live secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth; and he shall be the one of peace.”

The prophecy is about the coming of Jesus.  He was to come from Bethlehem, which is described as one of the little clans of Judah.  In fact there is a theme running through the readings about the small, the poor, the little, the overlooked, the rejected…. This is how God shows that He is concerned about all.  He doesn’t chose the by the worlds standard.  In the world, it seems that the most influential are those who make the most noise, have money or fame and somehow seem to fit right in as everyone’s ideal person.  They are the kind that you can imagine on the talk back shows where everyone is nodding and laughing. 

From the Gospel of Luke we notice that God’s way of choosing is different.

Luke1:46- 55 “And Mary said, "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, for he has looked with favour on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.
 He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.   He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever."”

The fact of the matter is that right here and now we may have a reality that is far from what we would like and we may feel that, being just one person, we are completely unable to affect any change or to have any influence, but this is the very circumstances where God likes to show up.

God delights in comforting His people and causing those that are of seemingly no significance to become incredibly significant.  This is part of our message for Advent as we prepare for Christmas.  Of course the other part of the message is that “God is on His way”.

How do we make sense of the fact that God has already been here and yet is on his way? 

By His Holy Spirit God is always with his people.  Just as the unborn child within Elizabeth leapt for joy at the sound of Mary’s greeting, acknowledging Jesus within her, so too there are those who will notice something within them and others and respond to the Holy Spirit of Jesus within us, and within circumstances.

Why do I tell you all this?  In our readings there is a thread that ties them all together and it is about little things that become big things.  We, like the rest of humanity, tend to overlook the subtlety of God’s presence.  It was certain characters like Elizabeth that recognized God without any announcement from Mary.  How can we be also be attuned to the presence of God?

There have been many wonderful people who genuinely sought to be in tune with God and got it wrong.  The reading from the letter to the Hebrews tells us the truth about this change from operating under a system of sacrifice and offerings to the New Covenant of living in grateful acceptance.

Hebrews 10:8-10   “When he said above, "You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings" (these are offered according to the law) then he added, "See, I have come to do your will." He abolishes the first in order to establish the second.  And it is by God's will that we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”

This reading speaks about the Old Covenant which prescribed certain sacrifices and offerings be made in order to come into God’s grace and presence.  But what does this reading tell us? 

Firstly and most importantly is states that all have been made holy through the offering of Christ… ONCE AND FOR ALL.  God does not require any other offering or sacrifice.  The reality that we fail to Grasp is that God IS present!  To the early Christians this concept sounded like Heresy. 

Many of the early followers of Jesus were “followers of the law”.   They kept the law of God to the best of their ability and they comprehended that Jesus was God incarnate who died because they couldn’t perfectly keep the Holy law of God, but what were they to do now? 

Surely it is for such people that this letter is written with the words, “He abolishes the first in order to establish the second.” 

Jesus put in place a New Covenant.  What are the terms of this covenant?  What sacrifices are we to make?  There is none…  Christ was offered once and for all.  What offering are we to make?   There is none…. Christ was offered once and for all.  So what are we to do?

Ever heard the phrase, “Good News”?  This New Covenant is Good News! How we will respond to the Good News is as individual as each person is, but generally there will be some degree of firstly acceptance or rejection of the gift that is given.  If acceptance, then we are to enjoy the unhindered gift of God’s eternal presence.   God is always there, and with our thanks to God for His presence comes the awareness. 

From little things, big things grow.  A tiny bit of trust that God is there.  A hope that this Good News is real.  A tiny step of faith and suddenly the world becomes four dimensional and joy can be found in the knowing that there is a greater purpose and plan for our existence.

Proper 21B/Ordinary 26B/Pentecost 18   September 27, 2015 •  Esther 7:1-6, 9-10; 9:20-22 and Psalm 124  •          James 5:13-20  •       Mark 9:38-50

We all like to have opinions about what is just and fair, and some of us will go further and actually speak up for Justice.    But I’m wondering what it would take for any of us to stand up for our people if it means risk to our own lives?

Our readings today take us to the story of Queen Esther.  She was a Jewish girl who won the favour of the King and became his Queen after the previous Queen was deposed for refusing to bow to the whim of the King at a social event.    In many ways the deposed Queen was a modern and liberated woman, but then came Esther the submissive Queen.  At this point the king was recovering from the embarrassment caused by the deposed Queen and so Esther could well have been put to death for speaking out of turn to the King.

Esther 7:4 “For we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. If we had been sold merely as slaves, men and women, I would have held my peace; but no enemy can compensate for this damage to the king."

Esther was not someone who spoke out for people.   Instead she was very attentive and even submissive to the advice of others.  But her uncle who had raised her, urged her that this was not a time for quiet submission.  This was a time that required bravery and advocacy for people.

This is a story that reminds me of those super-hero movies where it is quoted, “with much power, comes much responsibility”.   Esther was the Queen.  It was a precarious position at that moment in history, but her people were going to be annihilated unless she could advocate for them to the King.

We live in times that are very tense and times where opinions are many and varied.  In foreign countries our brothers and sisters in Christ are being annihilated.  And what do we do?  We shuffle between the fear of it reaching our own shores, and the desire to be seen as politically correct and non-discriminatory to anyone.

The real answer and the lesson we can learn from our readings is actually, I believe, in the part of the reading that is not read, but which is shown in our other readings…  We read from James:

James 5:13-18 “Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise.  Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord.  The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven.  Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.  Elijah was a human being like us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth.  Then he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth yielded its harvest.”

Before Queen Esther went to the King to advocate for her people, she requested days of prayer and people to pray with her.  I believe that prayer is the key and the message within our readings.  I believe that I have a lot to learn about how to pray, and I believe that I’m not the only one.

Prayer reminds us that God is in control and it enables us to see the issue in a way that focuses us such that we can let go of the things we can’t control.  It isn’t that we don’t do the hard yards of working through the problem, but more like a road map through a land littered with land-mines.

Our Psalm reminds us that if we are truly searching God and desiring His will, then we know that God is on our side.

Psalm 124:6-8 “Blessed be the LORD, who has not given us as prey to their teeth.  We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we have escaped.  Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth.”

The Psalmist repeats a phrase as if incredulous, that we would have perished if the Lord had been against us and we see a similar phrase in our Gospel reading from Mark 9:40 “Whoever is not against us is for us.”

However the reading from Mark is about people who were casting out Demons in Jesus name.  The disciples were concerned because these people didn’t seem to be followers of Jesus.  Is this pertinent to us today?   I hope not… I hope that we never experience anyone being thwarted in their desire to minister in Jesus name because they do not seem to be “one of us”.

As I read this Gospel reading I realized that over the years it may have been misunderstood.  It speaks about how it is better that you cut off your hand, your foot or put out your eye if any of these things cause you to stumble.  We generally think that this is trying to get us to see the severity of sin…. But just what is the severe sin that Jesus is warning about???? 

Not what you might think….!!!!    It is actually the sin of causing those “Little ones” to stumble, or to find yourself stumbling in the same way… and that particular stumbling, i.e. SIN, is to be thwarted in your desire to reach out to people in Jesus name and to set people free. 

You see, at the beginning of the passage the disciples are wanting to stop a group of people who are setting people free by casting out demons in Jesus name.  Jesus assures the disciples that these are people who are “for” him and continues in Mark 9:42 "If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea.”  He is talking to those people who would have eldership in the church about how they were to treat others.

The passage ends with the mysterious analogy about salt and how we need to have salt in ourselves and be at peace with one another.  Sadly, we belong to churches that war against each other and cut people down instead of releasing and empowering them into ministries where they are free and can in turn set others free.  And this is why our churches are dying and why there are so many disharmonies.  In our jealousy and suspicion we disable anyone who stands out and begins to do any good and finally all that is left of the church is the walking wounded or bitter and twisted people who’ve never understood the heart of God.

Traditionally the church has denounced anyone different, calling them evil and sinners, forgetting that Christ has dealt with sin.  This is what we see the disciples hinting at in the Gospel reading.  They see themselves as the hierarchy in the Kingdom of God and so they feel they must control and stop these evil others.  What is most concerning to God is not the deeds of the people “OUT THERE”, but the attitudes of our heart and what we do with our free will.  Most importantly His concern is that we love and empower each other to spread His love to all.

The King in the story of Esther can be seen to mirror God’s heart as we notice his willingness to protect and promote Esther.

Esther 7:2-3 “On the second day, as they were drinking wine, the king again said to Esther, "What is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? Even to the half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled."  Then Queen Esther answered, "If I have won your favour, O king, and if it pleases the king, let my life be given me -- that is my petition -- and the lives of my people -- that is my request.”

Esther’s request should be the same one that we make to God… “Let my life be given me, and the lives of my people…”  Esther does not set herself apart from her people.  We need to get serious about the ministry that God has called each of us to and get about it, praying that God enable us in this life.  When we disable others in ministry, we are setting ourselves apart from each other.  Remember that we are the body of Christ and it one part hurts we should all be hurting and if one part is doing well then we should all be rejoicing. 

Through prayer and petition we do not react to the precarious circumstances that present themselves in our lives, but instead we learn to respond to them in a way that is most effective and most adulating to God.

If we were to align ourselves with someone in the story of Esther, I wonder who we’d all choose.  Do you see yourself as Esther?  She is one who is in a place of privilege, but risks her very life because she is so connected to her people.  Or do you see yourself as Mordecai?  He is the one who teaches, encourages and gives the information to those with the power to effect change.  Or perhaps you are those who fasted and prayed….  Hopefully you are not Haman whose hate for one man drove him to devise a plan which nearly saw the annihilation of all God’s people….   In the name of God, many of God’s people have been destroyed.  It is important that we honestly search our hearts.

One thing is for certain; through prayer and petition and unity and support, God is victorious and His people with him.

Reflection for Sunday 2nd August 2015

Proper 13B/Ordinary 18B/Pentecost 10
August 2, 2015

2 Samuel 11:26 - 12:13a and Psalm 51:1-12 • Ephesians 4:1-16 • John 6:24-35

Some thoughts on this weekend’s readings are being written very last minute, but I think there is something here timely and important.

From St. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians we read, Ephesian 4:1-3 “therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

In the last few weeks I heard someone speak about a group of people and that they’d like to “weed out” some of the difficult personalities.  This was immediately following a discussion about how the most important thing to the heart of God is our “relationships”. 

It is completely understandable and logical, that we will have some people that we are able to get along with more than others, but this doesn’t mean we should be so “wise in our own eyes” (arrogant), as to think that there is no merit in these other people.

One thing that I have observed through my involvement in one particular organisation, that of Street Chaplaincy, is that everyone has their gifts.  There are people on the street that I am not going to be able to connect with, so I thank God that I work with a team and I celebrate our differences… most of the time J 

I have also noticed that some people think that if you disagree with their ideas that you are “against” them.  We can’t ever live in true freedom if we think that liking someone, being their friend and even loving them, means that we must agree and approve of all that they think, do and say.

How wonderful it is, that God gives us families to grow up in.  Families have personalities that, if they were to choose, or we were to arrange it, they’d be placed with other more like minded types.  But families are the perfect example, and learning place for our lives in community.  Sadly, families can be just like the community and reject differences instead of embracing the learning opportunity of accepting differences, celebrating them and still loving unconditionally.

Speaking of family; our first reading for this weekend is the story of Bathsheba coming to live with King David and the story told by the Prophet Nathan to make clear to David just exactly what he had done.  Bathsheba was called to David, became pregnant and so David tried to cover up his act by calling her husband back from the war.  It didn’t work and so David organised for the husband to be placed on the frontline where he was killed in battle.

We are not told how Bathsheba felt about being called to David.  He was the King; therefore, did she have any say in the matter? 

The story or parable that the prophet tell to King David was about a poor man with a pet lamb – just one.  A rich man had a need to feed a visitor, but didn’t want to sacrifice his own flock and so he took the poor man’s lamb.

We always think that the poor man is referring to Bathsheba’s husband.  Indeed it is, but when you think about it, the innocent that was killed was the husband…. This puts the one most hurting to be Bathsheba.  Bathsheba was taken, fell pregnant as a result, lost her husband and then was taken to be just one of the King’s many wives.   The stories over the years have suggested that maybe Bathsheba was deliberately parading for the King to see her naked and these slights on her character, I suspect, would most certainly have been there from the very start – but are they warranted? 

We know that Bathsheba was beautiful.  We know that she was without her husband home.  This brings to mind a film that a friend told me about, “Malena”.  You can read the summery on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mal%C3%A8na

The film is set in the war and Malena is a beautiful woman whose husband has gone to the war… sound familiar?  I have not seen the film and don’t think it is one that I’d advise but the story goes that this woman was hated and rejected.  Why?  Her only crime was that she was very beautiful and men and young boys fantasised about her. 

Towards the end of the film the townspeople lash out at Malena, believing her to be something of a whore and they beat her and shave her head.  Did she do anything deserving this?  She was beautiful.

A beautiful woman such as Malena was safe while happily married, but as soon as her husband was away there was trouble.  Now, an interesting conversation was had during one of my tutorials at university; Many of us were single mothers and we realized that something we all had in common was that, as single women, we were never invited to the BBQs or social events of “friends”.  I can vividly remember the first time that anyone other than family invited me to a BBQ and I think I cried…. Didn’t end up going, but I was so touched at the genuine friendship and a gesture that hadn’t occurred in so many years.

But why do I tell you this?  I believe that Bathsheba was hurting.  She was the brunt of accusations… she was the reason her husband was killed… she was the one who lost her husband, her dignity, the respect and acceptance of the community… she lost everything… and she would also lose the child she was carrying.

So often, we look at others and perceive them to have things….  Others would have looked at Bathsheba and been so jealous… she was so beautiful and now she was the Kings wife, living in the lap of luxury.  Can’t you just hear the gossip? 

I recently came across a book, “Have you filled a bucket today”.  It says that we all carry invisible buckets.  When your bucket is full, you are happy and confident.  When someone says mean things it empties your bucket.  We need each other to fill our buckets, and we do this by supporting and encouraging. 

Some people are bucket dippers.   They are the gossips and bullies who might have empty buckets themselves and seem to think that they can feel better by emptying someone else’s bucket, but that just makes two empty buckets.  You fill your own bucket more when you are encouraged, but also when you actively fill someone else’s.

The message in the story of King David is not just about the sin that he committed but it is for us all to reflect on how we might also be “taking the poor man’s lamb”.  

Are we taking from someone else’s bucket, erroneously thinking that they have more than they deserve? 

Are we getting in the way of the gifts that God has given to another person because we are jealous and think that this person or that person already has so much? 

We need to actively let go of controlling situations because we feel that someone has something we want.  In the end, all we are doing is emptying both their bucket and our own….  What we do need to do is to set our minds on a bigger focus and that of the Kingdom of God

John 6:27- 29 “ Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal."  Then they said to him, "What must we do to perform the works of God?"  Jesus answered them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent."

Reflections for 12th July 2015

July 12, 2015  Proper 10B/Ordinary 15B/Pentecost 7

2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19  Psalm 24  Ephesians 1:3-14   Mark 6:14-29

It seems to me that it is time to get back into writing reflections on the readings.  There have been many lately that I wish I had gotten around to writing about, due to the way those verses and stories have impacted and clarified my life.  Sometimes my life has actually enabled me to understand them at a different level also.

This week we look at stories of conflict.   There are people doing God’s will and people who want to kill, humiliate, denounce and even crucify those people.

Our Psalm begins with the facts;
Psalm 24: 1-5 “The earth is the Lord's and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it; for he has founded it on the seas, and established it on the rivers.
Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD? And who shall stand in his holy place?  Those who have clean hands and pure hearts, who do not lift up their souls to what is false, and do not swear deceitfully.  They will receive blessing from the LORD, and vindication from the God of their salvation.”

King David was someone who understood, accepted and proclaimed the facts about God.  He understood that the Ark was something precious and sacred and that to have it was a sign of God’s blessing…. Actually it was a sign that God was real, mighty, and had chosen His people… the Israelites.  They were the chosen race and the Ark was the sure sign of that relationship. 
Our story tells of a happy day, of people celebrating their relationship with God and praising God… and their leader, King David, was leading the way.  He was dressed in the simple garments that were worn by the novice priests and not his normal royal attire.  In this way he was an example to the people of humble, servant leadership.  King David was a leader who willingly humbled himself before the people to serve and praise God.  And when anyone stands up as a leader there are an abundance of critics who will try to be the voice of doubt and disillusion and criticism, and the fly in the ointment was personified in this case by his wife, Michal.  She was the daughter of the previous King, Saul. 

Michal’s are everywhere.  They are the ones who tell you not to get involved, and they will always have a very good and logical reason.  The very best (and most dangerous) ones, are those whose reasons will even appear to be spiritual and scriptural.   I recall the story of the prophet, only identified as a man of God who proclaims one of, what I think to be, the Bibles most forthright prophecies.  1 Kings 13:1-3 “By the word of the Lord a man of God came from Judah to Bethel, as Jeroboam was standing by the altar to make an offering. By the word of the Lord he cried out against the altar: “Altar, altar! This is what the Lord says: ‘A son named Josiah will be born to the house of David. On you he will sacrifice the priests of the high places who make offerings here, and human bones will be burned on you.’ ” That same day the man of God gave a sign: “This is the sign the Lord has declared: The altar will be split apart and the ashes on it will be poured out.””.

Now the reason I tell you the story about this amazing prophet, is that after that amazing encounter with King Jeroboam, where the altar split and Jeroboam’s hand was withered as he tried to seize the man, the man was enticed to disobey God’s directive to him by another man of God.  And he died as a result!!! 

 The prophet was told to return home without eating or drinking, but another man of God informed him that God has said that he should eat and drink at his place.   Oh dear, what a dreadful deception is that of the well-meaning Christian who believes that they speak for God but have never heard His voice!

This very strongly brings to mind the many people who proclaim “Christianity”, by asking the question, “Are you sure that you are saved”?

I hear it so often and what it really means is that they are preaching to Christians and feeding them fear and doubt about their salvation.  There have been others in my life who’ve said things like, “but you can’t really be a Christian if you are divorced.”  Oh and there are many others.  They are Michal’s.  They belong to the church, they therefore have some kind of authority, and we listen to them because of it, and that makes them very dangerous.   What are we to do?

It was the relationship with God that made David dance before the Lord.  It was the Ark that embodied that relationship which declared and even proved that the Israelites were the chosen people of God.  What do we have today that marks our relationship as the chosen people of God?

Our reading from Ephesians tells us about our adoption into the family of God.  It states that we were chosen before the foundation of the world.  How can anyone make us doubt?  We are God’s and we belong to him, and were we chosen on the condition of any good deed or act?  According to Ephesians it is according to the good pleasure of God’s will. 

The “Ark” for the Christian is the seal of the Holy Spirit:  Ephesians 1:13-14 “In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; this is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God's own people, to the praise of his glory.”

The Holy Spirit not only assures us that we belong to God, but it is the Holy Spirit that enables us to discern what is good and what is not, however, we need to practise discerning and pray.  If an incredible prophet could be fooled into listening to the wrong person then we can too. 

On the flip side, we need to have confidence that in the end we will figure it out if we are like David and willing to be humble and submit all to God.

We look now at Herod.  Herod actually had a lot of respect for John the Baptist and it appears some hope in Jesus.  He didn’t actually put anything into action, but he did listen to John and obviously contemplated his words.  But in the end Herod thought more of his position than he did of God and of even his own conscience.   Herod was the opposite of Kind David.  He didn’t want to humble himself in front of his guests by saying to Herodias’s daughter, “You can have anything, but not the head of John the Baptist”.    So he valued his position and reputation more than he valued doing what he knew to be right.  He grieved, but he had John killed.

And when we give credence to those voices in the church that cause doubt and fear where there should be faith and peace, we are being Herod. 

We have quite a responsibility as the church.  I read in a small booklet that was distributed at our Church’s recent Synod gathering that our mission  is to Proclaim the Gospel, nurture believers, care for those in need, protect creation and transform unjust structures in society.   I looked at it and I wondered if we really do nurture and care, and whether we really would get our hands dirty in transforming unjust structures.    At the moment I’m facing some issues of bullying and I notice that in our “caring” we seem to advise walking away… ie.. Letting the bully have what they want.  Is this transforming unjust structures?

Now these are just my thoughts, but it seems that we have a choice; David or Herod.  Which king’s example will we follow?   Choose wisely or you may find yourself inadvertently beheading a prophet.