EASTER 2024 Dawn service

WHO WILL ROLE THE STONE AWAY?  This question seemed to jump out at me.  Here, we have a community in deep grief, desperately striving to keep God’s law, the laws of the land and also deal with all the demands of proper burial rituals, therefore we have the women making a journey to the tomb on the third day.  Friday, Jesus was crucified, the laid him in the tomb hurriedly because they were not permitted to do any work as soon as it was sun down, because that commenced the Sabbath, and the Sabbath continued until Sun down on the Saturday evening – the second day.  Then we come to the third day.

 

The wait until there was enough day light to go to the tomb and prepare Jesus’ body, must have been an agonizing wait… and the delay in time would have meant that the job would not be an easy one.  The women were focused and organized….. well, not quite.  A huge obstacle threatened the success of their mission!  Who will role the stone away?  They didn’t know how they were going to get into the tomb to do their job. 

 

Jesus’ ministry was one where he had many followers and 12 disciples.  Of those twelve, some surely, were big burly fishermen!?!  And surely one of them could have been concerned enough to go with the women to help with the heavy lifting…. But no.    Where were they?

 

The fact of the matter is that this was a community deeply grieving and we all grieve in different ways.  Some avoid facing the truth and bury themselves in other activities.  Some feel that the pain is too raw to bring themselves into any of those places where they have to face the reality, and they distance themselves.  But honestly – These very natural reactions don’t help. 

 

Veteran singer Cliff Richards sang these very true words, “The only way out is the only way in and it’s you”.   Some of the other lyrics say; “I spent a lot of time at the crossroads - Getting that lonely feeling inside - Suddenly you stopped the rain, you changed the view - Now every way's leading to you”

 

When we are in pain and confusion we naturally withdraw and avoid, and often that action is not something that is going to help us.  The women, on the other hand are still in grief, but they are willing to be IN that grief – face it – own it -  and so they set off to visit the tomb, but there is a huge obstacle.  They don’t have the ability to move the stone.

 

Where is that big burly follower of Jesus?  What’s his name?  Peter!  Where do we imagine Peter is? 

 

Peter was very much experiencing pain and confusion.  In this time of Easter, we often focus on the fact that Peter denied Jesus, but I want to remind us all that just a little bit before that denial, Peter had a sword in the garden.  Do you remember the scene?  Peter was ready to fight and defend.  No one was getting to his man, Jesus.  But Jesus told him to put that sword away, and this was not long after Jesus had said to Peter, "Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me. For your thoughts are not of the things of God, but the things of men."

 

Peter had been chastised by Jesus more than once, and at each of those times Peter was simply doing what any good and loyal friend would do.  When it came to the time when Peter denied Jesus, Peter was in deep confusion – In some ways he was telling the truth when he said, “I do not know him” – Peter didn’t understand Jesus – He didn’t understand what was happening and what he was meant to do and He was deeply, deeply grieved.  Peter was loyal and brave, but he was confused and didn’t know what to make of anything that had happened.  He knew that Jesus was the Messiah, but he no longer knew what to do…. And he withdrew.

 

So… who will move the stone?  We may be thinking the same thing.  We all have our own experiences of Jesus on our own journey of life.  In that journey we have had good times and bad.  Times when our faith was strong and times when… well, quite honestly, we became disillusioned and somewhat disappointed and felt that God let us down.  This is a tiny bit  - a fraction of the way the disciples were feeling.  They must have all been thinking, that surely, this could not be God’s plan for the Messiah. – Surely this could not be God’s plan for them???  What IS God’s plan?

 

In the year 2024, is it God’s plan that His chosen people are at war?  Is it God’s plan that we have so much youth crime?  Is it God’s plan that so few people understand and accept the Good News about Jesus Christ?  NO – It is not.

 

So – Who will move the stone?  That stone that hides the reality of the Good News of the resurrection comes in many forms; Disbelief, Disillusion, Disappointment… and all these were being experienced by the community of Jesus as those ladies walked towards the tomb.

 

We need the stone moved….  We need to reveal the reality of God to our community.  We need to move that stone which is keeping them from having their eyes opened to the truth of God.  BUT it is such a huge stone – it is too heavy for us.  Who will move the stone?

 

Where are we at in the story of the resurrection?  Are we like Peter, confused and rendered paralysed by our own failure?  Are we the disciples who are disillusioned and feeling confused about what the truth is, after being told by our circumstances and community that we are wrong? Are we those disciples who, after being taught so much by Jesus, feel resigned to the fact that we are powerless to make any impact? 

 

So who will roll the stone away?  The women had a job to do and they went to face the reality of their circumstance - Jesus’ death.  They didn’t know the answers to what God’s plan was in all their grief, but they were prepared to faithfully confront the reality and do what they could.  They walked towards the tomb aware of a huge obstacle facing them and possibly preventing them – but they went anyway. 

 

Who will move the stone for us, as we strive to bring the message of Jesus victory over the grave?  Will we continue to proclaim the truth about God’s sacrifice for the salvation of the world, or is the obstacle too large?  Will we continue God’s call to us to care for the marginalised, for those with no power and authority, for the poor and voiceless…. For the children, unborn- with no voice…  Will we continue to advocate for justice even when it is not popular or politically correct, and when the world is telling us we are wrong?  It is a heavy stone indeed!

 

There is this huge stone in our community that stands between us and the ways of the risen Lord.  You hear it’s voice and know it when it speaks because it is a voice of fear, despair, pride, division and darkness.  It’s message is the opposite of our risen Lord, who died to bring us life, showing us the ultimate example of love.  That stone of fear, despair, pride, division and darkness, might even be our own, and it is a huge stone threatening to block the message of God’s salvation.

 

But WHO will move the stone for us?  We need to know the message of the resurrection and the power of God almighty who moves the stone and raises from the dead.  The stone will be moved – God himself will see that it is moved.  As we faithfully say “Yes” to God and continue to walk in faith, we will find that the stone is moved.  Christ IS risen!  Now, Go and tell the disciples this… the ladies needed to proclaim the Good News because the disciples needed to hear the truth.  Most importantly, like us, they also needed their faith encouraged!  The stone has been rolled away! God himself accomplished all this and Jesus is risen!

 

Let’s share our stories of faith and hope and encourage each other, because our God is a God of miracles.  Let’s talk about it, proclaim it and God WILL move that stone– He already has! and Christ is Risen, Alleluia.   – He is Risen indeed – Alleluia.

Entering a New Covenant - Reflection of Lent 5B 17th March 2023

2024  03  17  Lent 5 B

Jeremiah 31:31-34  •  Psalm 51:1-12 or Psalm 119:9-16  •  Hebrews 5:5-10  •  John 12:20-33

Throughout this season of Lent we’ve been looking at the covenants that God made with His people.  The Covenant with Noah, then Abraham, then with the Israelite nation through Moses.  In today’s readings, we hear about the promise of a new covenant and it sounds like, and is, very good news.   God’s New Covenant involves us simply, innately knowing God’s ways.  We are told that He writes His laws in our minds and in our hearts.  However, much like giving birth to a wonderful gift of new life, there is pain and suffering to bring this new covenant into being.

 

In each of the Covenants that God has made, he has revealed more of who He is.  It begins with Noah and the flood and is a simple promise made to all of mankind and all the creatures of the earth.  It tells us that God is concerned about everyone and wants to be in relationship with all.  Whether you have accepted the word of God or not.. Whether you are baptised or not… God has made a covenant of love with you, and whenever you see a rainbow, you can call this fact to mind.  God cares for and loves us all.

 

The next Covenant was when God made the promise to Abraham that he would be the father of many and that all the nations of the earth would be blessed through him.  This was a covenant made to a specific line of people – the Israelite people, but it also indicates a blessing for all.  Abraham is also considered the father of all those who believe God in faith, because he believed God would accomplish what he said he would do.

 

Next, we had the Mosaic covenant where God revealed himself to Moses and the people of Israel through rescuing them out of Egypt and giving them the Commandments – a blue print, if you like, for a wholesome life where love and goodness can be known and the community can thrive.

 

In these revelations about God, we are doing what those Greek visitors were doing; they came to see Jesus.  In that word “see”, the implication is that these people want to know and understand Jesus.  Seeing is connected to God being revealed.

 

Today we read from the prophet Jeremiah about the promise of a New Covenant.  In this new covenant, God will write his law on people’s hearts.  It is ultimately about us knowing God, and about God being revealed to us. 

 

God is so beyond our understanding, but God wants us to know him.  The law that God gave through Moses was not meant to restrict people, but to show the way for life to flourish.  Some pushed the boundaries, while others worried about breaking the law and being condemned without hope.  So God promises a New Covenant.  Why?  Because, in His great love, he desires every good thing for us and that we should be free.  He wants us to live an abundant life, where we enjoy walking with God, free from guilt, worry and completely uninhibited – and God wants us to properly SEE him and see that He loves us and is concerned for our good.

 

In our Gospel reading Jesus tells us; “Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out.  And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself."  ….“Now is the judgment of this world” - I’ve been told that the word translated as Judgment, actually is more like defence.  Jesus came to defend us. 

 

God forgives our Sin and remembers our sin no more.  This is a very foreign concept.  When someone wrongs us, we might forgive, but we rarely forget.  The message of the cross of Jesus is to reassure us that God loves us so much that he has made restitution for us in the spiritual realm.  To modern people in our contemporary society, much of our faith is baffling, but there are some who know the weight of and seriousness of their actions, and to those people, the Israelites and people of Jesus’ time, who were used to a sacrificial system to render them being in an acceptable position before God, this made perfect sense.

 

The letter to the Hebrews tries to explain some of this to us, but much of it is lost on us, unless we understand a few things.  It says; "You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek."  Melchizedek, was a mysterious character who appeared to Abraham.  Melchizedek was the King of Salem.  Salem meant “Peace” and later to become Jerusalem.  Melchizedek was also a priest of God most high.  He blessed Abraham and confirmed God’s covenant and Abraham blessed him and gave him an offering.  Melchizedek is a character with no genealogy, and therefore a priest and king without beginning or end.  We are told that Jesus is this order of priest. The word, Melchizedek, means King of Righteousness.  The Levitical priests of the Israelite nation would offer sacrifices to God on behalf of the people, but the sacrifice that our priest and king, Jesus, offered was that of himself.

 

It can not be said that Jesus doesn’t understand us at our very most weakest, because Jesus was pushed to that point through his suffering.  It can not be said that the cross was easy for Jesus to bear because he was God…. If anything, the injustice and knowledge would have made it all the heavier a burden – But also remember that while on earth Jesus operated as one who was fully human.  We know that Jesus cried out to God loudly and with tears…. The cross was not easy.  Yet Jesus submitted to the will of God the father and he submitted himself to bearing that cross out of love for the whole world.

 

This is the New Covenant.  God makes a way for us to be forgiven and to be united to himself, through the willing sacrifice of Jesus.  Now, we are told that as part of this New Covenant, God writes His law in our minds and in our hearts.  If we look around at the world, it is pretty obvious that this isn’t something magic that happened at that time and now everyone lives in knowledge of God with peace and harmony. 

 

We enter the New Covenant with our free will, freely choosing to accept Jesus as our saviour.   We affirm this decision through our baptism.  In that Baptism, God imparts all the gifts He has for us, but we might not be enjoying those gifts if we haven’t opened them.

 

God respects our will.  All of our lives we are faced with choices to follow God’s way or go our own – To enter into a Covenant where we call the God most high, our God, or to act contrary to God’s good ways. 

 

Knowing God’s law and wisdom intrinsically was something that was experienced by the early church when the Holy Spirit came.  Pentecost was the festival of the giving of the Law on Mount Sini.  When the Holy Spirit came, those frightened and hiding men and women became emboldened and filled with divine wisdom.  The law was imparted into their minds and hearts divinely, through the Holy Spirit dwelling in them.  God gives this same Holy Spirit to you and I. 

 

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus with us always.   We can study the Bible and go to all manner of colleges, lectures and conferences, but when it all boils down, ALL can get the ways of God wrong, no matter how much learning, because God is so far beyond our human minds.  Yet God wants to be known and gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit to teach us and write God’s ways in our hearts.  To live this life the way God intended and to have the strength to make the choices that God would have us make, we need the very essence of Jesus – His love, compassion, mercy and wisdom - His ability to say yes to God even in the face of great suffering – and God has given this to us through His Holy Spirit  - through the New Covenant. 

 

To say YES to this Covenant, means to die to the past and to die to being our own God – in charge of our own lives. We lose that “Life”, but we gain life eternal.  As baptised people, we have already made this decision, and we confirm it through communion each week.  As you hear the word’s, “body of Christ”, understand that the decision to say AMEN, is you saying, “YES I accept Christ’s completed sacrifice and I willingly enter this New Covenant.”

As we journey to the celebration of the cross and resurrection, let’s be aware of our choice to enter that New and wonderful Covenant.

Breaking the chains and being set free 2024 03 04 Lent 3 year B

 2024  03  04   Exodus 20:1-17  •  Psalm 19  •  1 Corinthians 1:18-25  •  John 2:13-22

Theologians refer to these readings we’ve had over this Lenten season as, the Noahic Covenant, the Abrahamic Covenant, and the Mosaic Covenant.  The Law that God handed down to Moses forms the Mosaic Covenant.  While the Noahic and Abrahamic Covenants were God’s promise to his people, the Mosaic Covenant is the first time we find an emphasis on our actions in the 10 commandments.

 

In all of these covenants we receive revelations about God’s redemptive plan for mankind, but more than that, we receive revelations about the nature of God.  God promises to never again destroy all mankind in the Noahic Covenant… A covenant of mercy and grace.  God promises to make Abraham the father of nations and that through him all the nations would be blessed…  another covenant of mercy and grace.  And then we get to our Mosaic Covenant.

 

At this historical point where the law was given, the people of God knew that they had God’s favour and they knew his power, because God had saved them miraculously from slavery in Egypt, but on that mountain when the law was handed down, they learnt a whole lot more about the nature of God.

 

These Israelite people of God had been born in Egypt.  Their lives had been one of hard labour and slavery and although they were known as Israelites, they were part of the Egyptian way of life and that involved all the cultural aspects, including the worship of other gods.  In fact, it is suggested that the plagues that God sent when Pharaoh wouldn’t let the people go, were specific to the 10 gods of Egypt.  Each plague showed God’s authority over these other “so called” gods.  Some of the rituals to serve these gods, were a long way from the goodness of our God, and those Israelites would have been involved in those rituals. The people certainly knew very little to nothing about Yahweh, the God who makes covenants with His people.

 

The first commandment God gave was “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me.”  It is kind of like God saying,  “Let me introduce myself…. That power display you witnessed…. That was me…. Even though I am all powerful I am your very good news, because I rescued you and care for you…and you do not need to appease me like you did the other gods…. But don’t test my patience by trying to serve both them and me”  It is a clear command given to a people who were used to having many gods. 

 

Some of the rituals involved with those other so called gods were not rituals that benefited society or individuals.  They were in all ways destructive and they were in fact a lie. If we accept God’s word when He tells us that He is God and there IS no other, then to serve other gods is, in fact serving either our own imaginations in the least, and demons parading as gods in the worst.

 

During Lent we hear the ten commandments proclaimed each week, highlighting God’s law, and to us it is all quite familiar, but can you imagine how it must have been for those Israelites, hearing them for the first time?

 

Our God is so far beyond the holiness and goodness of anything that the people had ever experienced, it was actually hard for them to comprehend and it took them some time to actually accept…. In fact, I reckon it took them about 40 years.  Forty years of the people doubting and testing God and forty years of God showing them His might and His power…. And His love.  Most importantly, I need to tell you about God’s love.

 

Many years ago, I read a book by Francine Rivers called Redeeming Love.  The book is Christian fiction and I highly recommend it.  It is set in the early Gold Rush days in America.  The two main characters are a Godly man named Michael Hosea and prostitute, nicknamed Angel.  The author paints a very sad beginning to the book, where evil and abuse take centre stage.  Finally, Angel is rescued by Michael.  Michael marries Angel to save her, nurses her back to health and although Angel is grateful, she can’t accept the love that Michael offers.  It is foreign… it is not the way that her world operates.  She even goes back to her old life and needs to be rescued again.

 

What struck me about the story was this inability to accept all the good that was offered, not because it wasn’t wanted, but because it had never been experienced before, she didn’t know what it was or how to accept it.  I do believe the Israelite nation needed the forty years in the desert to grow in their understanding of the goodness and love of God – and often, so do we.

 

The Law of God forms the Mosaic Covenant, and a covenant is an agreement between two people, much like a marriage contract.  In the same way that the character, Michael, in the book, married Angel to rescue her, God rescued the Israelite nation and made that covenant of love with them, but they had a hard time accepting it, and God gave them the law as part of that contract, to help them understand.

 

In this covenant of the Law God showed them what love was like… love doesn’t murder.  Love doesn’t commit adultery.  Love doesn’t steal. Love doesn’t bear false witness against a neighbour.  Love doesn’t covet your neighbour's house. wife, slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything else.  In God’s love He orders a time of rest… keep holy the Sabbath.  He commands that we honour our parents.  Why?  Because this is what love is.  God always desires good things for his people and good things come when follow God’s way.  It’s not rocket science – it is simple and God made the commands, not to restrict us, but to give us a framework for society and a framework for love to thrive.

 

Our Psalm tells us that the law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the decrees of the LORD are sure, making wise the simple.  In the beginning of the Law, it was obvious that it was to revive the soul.  Think about it; these people were slaves in Egypt and the first thing this all-powerful God commands is that they have a day of rest.  A nation who knew no rest was given a holiday each week – a HOLY- day.  Have you ever noticed the make-up of that word?

 

Some of the so-called gods called for human sacrifice, but our God commands that you shall not murder.  Many of the rituals with the false gods were performed to gain wealth and power, but our God commands that we do not covet.  The Israelites had been so damaged in their understanding of life that God had to spell it out in the commandments and it was really Good News!  The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul.

 

If mankind is willing, we can know God through His creation.  The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.  Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night declares knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard; yet their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. I have heard people who know more about science than me, talk about the intelligent design evident in creation.  These people say that it is obvious to them that God created, yet the world is full of those who proclaim it is because of science that they don’t believe.  Might I suggest that it is because they are suffering the same condition as those Israelites?  When we are more exposed to the evil in the world, the hate and jealousy, we find it almost impossible to accept that anything can be different.  A meme that popped up on facebook recently captures this idea; “We cannot force someone to hear a message that they are not ready to receive, but we must never underestimate the power of planting a seed.”

 

Our reading from Corinthians speaks of the rejection of the message in this way; “For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”  The power of God is extreme, but no human is a puppet and change can be immediate or gradual and sadly, more often than not, it is a very slow progress….  Forty years or so???

 

So, the question for us is this; if it is so hard for people to accept the Good News about God because they are so used to bad news, what can we do?  What is our part?

 

It is a marathon and not a sprint.  Bringing about change in peoples’ perceptions of the church and God is something that happens gradually, but only one bad incident of failure to embody the goodness of God, and it will propel us back to the start.  This is what we are up against when there are Christians who lie, cheat and abuse their positions of power. 

 

This is why Jesus was upset about the market place in the temple.   The very place where people were meant to encounter the mercy, grace and love of God, they instead experienced cheating, lying and abuse.  It mis-represented God.  That is why Jesus was so angry.  It destroyed peoples’ trust in God and gave them a warped image of who God is.

 

Do we understand that the law was made not for judgment, but to bring people freedom?  God wants us to be free.  Jesus came to set the prisoners free – meaning that he wants us to be free from those things that weigh us down.  He wants us to live in all the goodness that he initially created, because he loves us.

 

The law was made for this, but we couldn’t perfectly keep the law… and it made us aware of how we all fall short of the Glory of God.  But, God made a way to set us free from even the bondage of the law…. Jesus came and kept that law perfectly… not just the letter of the law, but the heart of the law.   Baptised into union with Jesus, we too are reckoned as one who keeps the law.  This is God’s love on a whole other level.

 

This week let us pray for the love of God to be so evident to us, that God’s love then becomes manifest through us to those we meet, breaking those chains of burdens and setting people free. Amen.

Something in the Water! 18th Feb 2024 Lent 1 B

2024  02  18  LENT 1 B 

Genesis 9:8-17  •  Psalm 25:1-10  •  1 Peter 3:18-22  •  Mark 1:9-15

Noah’s Ark and Jesus’ baptism.  There is something in the water!  We are told that through the flood 8 people were saved and this prefigured Baptism.  It was an extremely evil time.  Just prior to the story of Noah’s Ark, we read in Genesis 6:5 “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”  Then a little later when God speaks to Noah, he says the world is full of violence.  God was grieved, but Noah, his wife, his three sons and their wives were saved.  Can you imagine what living in that evil and violent community must have been like?  This flood, that both destroys evil and brings forth life anew, prefigures our baptism.

 

Baptism wasn’t actually something new or unique to the Christian church.  John the Baptist wasn’t the first person to be baptising people, but the idea of a ritual full emersion was a common part of life for the Jewish people. 

 

Times of ritual immersion appear in the story about Naaman, sent by the prophet Elisha, to dip in the Jordon river 7 times for his healing of leprosy.  When Jesus healed a leper, Jesus instructed him to present himself to the priest and offer what was required for cleansing.  One of the requirements would have been a ritual dip in 40 seahs of living or natural water.  The people mostly referred to this ritual as a Mikvah.

 

Baptism is a Greek word, but tevilah is the Hebrew equivalent, meaning emersion, and Mikvah is the place for the tevilah to take place – a gathering of water.  The word first appears in scripture in Genesis 1:10 when God gathered the water and called it Sea.  Mikvah’s had some very specific and interestingly symbolic instructions, and Mikvah’s were used in a number of different circumstances to prepare a person for sacred functions, rendering them ritually clean and ready for significant events. 

 

Some of the events requiring a Mikvah included; the priest in preparation for his role in the temple, a woman after giving birth etc.., a bride preparing for marriage, and also - much like our baptism, for those who were converted to Judaism.  The Mikvah made them ritually clean.  It emotionally, mentally and spiritually prepared them for the venture upon which they were embarking.

 

The Mikvah was filled with 40 seahs of water – a particular ancient measurement, with the most important significant aspect being the amount in the numbering of 40.  The number 40 signifies the 40 days of rain at the time of Noah.   The number 40 is a number for preparation and significant change and new creation.  The person emerging from the Mikvah, much like Noah and his family, leave behind – or die to - the old… it is gone, and emerge to a new life with the promise of God’s covenant and love.

 

Upon research I discovered that many Jewish people choose to begin their holy time of Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year) with the emersion ceremony of the Mikvah.  Rosh Hashanah marks the start of the Jewish High Holy Days leading up to Yom Kippur. It marks the beginning of the 10 “Days of Awe,” in which Jews focus their attentions on repentance and reflection leading up to Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, considered to be holiest day of the Jewish year.  (https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/09/18/rosh-hashanah-yom-kippur-jewish-holidays/5643430002/ )

 

Today we celebrate our first Sunday in Lent.  Today we embark on that 40day journey from today to Good Friday (the cross).   A time when our attention is on repentance and reflection leading up to our most holy day, Good Friday, when Christ made atonement for the sin of the world.   I kind of wish we had a big pool of water so that we could mark the journey in the same way that these ancient people did… and as some Jews still do, making a deliberate and conscious entering into this season of repentance and reflection with renewed commitment…. and this is why some churches have holy water upon entering and exiting the church, and people bless themselves with the sign of the cross – it is a remembrance of our Baptism and an acknowledgement of our continued commitment to our new and eternal life in Christ Jesus.

 

Today we begin this journey into Lent, by reflecting on what has gone before us in this journey of faith, so that we can understand where we are going.  We read about God’s covenant to Noah.  Noah is not just some unrelated character who the Israelite people claim as an ancestor.  The whole world was flooded and all was destroyed, except for Noah and his family.  The bible tells us that from these came all the nations of the world.  For the matter of our faith and to properly understand God’s story, and indeed OUR story, we need to accept that Noah is our ancestor also.  Why is this important?  Because we need to understand that the covenant that God made to Noah and his family, is the covenant that God has made with all of us and with all creatures.  -And in this we also understand that we are all essentially one family, united under the rainbow covenant.

 

Eight people came off that boat and 8 is also considered a number of new beginning.  We can rejoice that we are part of that new creation, the family of Noah and under that glorious rainbow covenant, but what about all those others who were disobedient in the time of Noah?  Did God not care?  They were completely evil and violent.  Did God just forget about them?

 

We read something truly intriguing in 1 Peter; That Jesus went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah.  This tells me something about God’s compassion and care, and that he forgets NO ONE.  Also, in Matthew 10:15 we read, “Truly, I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.”  At the time that Jesus spoke these words, Sodom and Gomorrah had been long time destroyed.  Destroyed in the physical, but never forgotten and always on God’s mind.  AND existing somewhere in the spiritual.   We need to know this one important thing; No one is ever forgotten, cast aside, rejected and disregarded by God.  His love is beyond time and His wisdom is beyond our understanding.

 

The other thing that we know is that there will be a day of Judgment for all of us.  Should we be afraid?  If we are like those who were rebellious in the time of Noah, we might have something to fear.  If we are trusting in our own goodness… our own righteousness, we might be acutely aware of how fallible we are and might be afraid.  But if that is you, I need to declare to you the Good News so that you can rejoice…. We have been saved by our faith in the completed sacrifice of Jesus.  What’s more, If God cared for and couldn’t forget those who were disobedient in the time of Noah, who were evil all the time, you can be assured that he completely and passionately loves and cares for you and he doesn’t want you to fear.  In fact, God is completely aware of our fallibility that is why he has already made the way to reassure us…. He has made atonement for us, once and for all on the cross.

 

 

Baptism is the outward sign of an inner reality.  That inner reality is that we have spiritually died in the waters of baptism and we live now through Christ… we say that we are clothed in Christ, which means that we have taken on Christs identity as our own – AND Christ is sinless.  Spiritually we are also, sinless because our identity is in him.  Our baptism requires that we turn away from sin, in the physical - but the reality is, that while we are in this earthly body we will continue to fall.   We aim to do better out of love for God, and we rejoice that God loves and accepts us through our union with Jesus. 

 

Jesus does not fall… Jesus did not sin.  Jesus came to be baptised by John, but he did not need to repent.  He, no doubt affirmed that he turned away from sin and the proof was in what followed when he was tempted in the desert.  But Jesus’ baptism, like a holy Mikvah, was his preparation for the ministry that God had laid out for him before the foundation of the world…. That he would die to make atonement for us all… and to bring us into unity in relationship with the father.

 

If Jesus, after making a commitment to follow through with his holy ministry in this baptism, was then sorely tested by Satan, you can bet that we will be tested also as we commit ourselves to God.  And we need to remember, even if we fail, God accepts us as holy and pure through the sacrifice of his son, who didn’t fail. 

 

Today, as we start on our Lenten journey, we remember the rainbow covenant. We connect with that baptism of Jesus – Let us wash away ALL that keeps us from God – areas of sin – and our feelings of unworthiness.  Let us not wallow in grief when we fail, but confessing and repenting, (which means turning away from that sin), we thank God that he sent us Jesus and thank Jesus that he loved us enough to be that sacrifice for us.  We have been those spirits in prison, but we are no more.  We are set free to be all that God calls us to be, without fear of condemnation – because scripture tells us there is NO condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

 

Remember that in baptism we are clothed in Christ and we receive HIS Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is the life, the power and goodness of God.  And God is with us.  Nothing need hinder us from enjoying a relationship with God- except ourselves.  We sometimes might feel, like we are not someone that God would bother with.  We might feel, very aware of just how we fail.  As we enter this season, what do we need to wash away so that we can be set free to be the person that God has called us to be?  Let us wash away those feelings of unworthiness and failure.  God loves us and died for us to bring us his abundant life. Let us make every effort to enter into all he calls us to be.  After all, we are children of God’s Rainbow Covenant.

ASH WEDNESDAY REFLECTION

ASH WEDNESDAY SERMON  2024:

 

As we begin our Lenten journey, the first thing that generally comes to mind is; “what will I give up this year?   Lent is known as a time of fasting – a time when we give up something enjoyable and in that struggle, we remember that this is a holy time of preparation. 

As we enter this season, I believe it is important that we understand the heart of God.  Our God has communicated His heart over and over through the prophets of the Old Testament and then through Jesus Christ himself.  Through the prophet Isaiah God declared: (Isaiah 58:6 -7) “ Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?  Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin?”

God, like a loving parent, cares that we take care of each other.  He is grieved when there is injustice and when His people are burdened.

 

Today we mark our face with ashes.  We are told “whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting.”  And yet it seems that this is what we do today.  Which is a good example of not taking a single text of the Bible out of context.  Because there are many other examples of the great heroes of the Bible grieving in sack cloth and ashes.  King David was one, Job was another, as well as the whole city of Nineveh when God’s word came to them through Jonah. 

 

All of these who fasted in sack cloth and ashes were genuine in their grief and desperation before God.  Later on, in the journey of God’s people, there were many who came who were not so genuine, but they made a show of their fasting.  They were, in fact, hypocrites.  A hypocrite is actually an actor.  Someone who pretends to be something that they are not.  The theatre is comprised of hypocrites – they are actors.  The church is called to be the followers of Christ, worshipers of God.  This means we will do some of what God does, and not merely pretend to do what He does.  We will have His same heart of compassion and justice and desire to see people set free from those things that are destroying them.  To step out in our faith is not an easy challenge for most of us…. It is huge….  But what an incredible adventure and what an exhilaration when we connect with people, and through our caring or helpful actions they sense God’s love.

 

If we go to church but we don’t embody the heart and ministry of Jesus, we are mere actors.  Today we pledge to be more than an actor.  Today we strip away any pretence of grandeur and we acknowledge who we are before our omnipotent God – we are mere mortals created by God and finite, but loved by Him and for that we are so grateful.

 

Today is about recognising who we are in God.  We are mere mortals, but God loves us.  God loves us so much that He sent His son, who was without sin to take on the sin of the world.  You’ve heard that there is one baptism for the forgiveness of sins – that baptism is Christ being emersed into the sin of mankind.  He took that sin to the cross and, emersed in that sin, He died, thus doing away with sin.  Sin was the spiritual reality of our condition.  Jesus took that sin and paid the price.  The reason wasn’t so that we would forever hang our head in shame, but so that we could be set free.  Being set free we can truly live and live in the righteousness that is now ours through our union with Christ.

 

In our baptism we are said to die and rise with Christ.  Baptism units us to him, such that we, spiritually, become righteous through Christ, and we become free from all that keeps us separated from God.  In this freedom we thank and praise God.  God as a loving parent, does not want us hanging our heads in shame and being down cast, but he does want us to live in the reality and likeness of Christ, who loves and sets people free.

 

We are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Christ dwells with us by His Holy Spirit, and moves us to do all the good that Christ would have us do as His holy people.  Perhaps one thing we can do this Lent is to strive to have our spiritual eyes open to see the people God brings into our lives where HE wants us to be his hands and feet…. They may be strangers, or they may be our own family.

 

We put on the ashes to remember who we are; we are but dust.  Yet we put those ashes in the sign of the cross because there is another reality operating in our lives.  Through the sacrifice of the cross we are reconciled with God, will rise with Christ.

 

These ashes today, are our acknowledgement AND our pledge to walk in the way of Christ.  He calls us to a new kind of fast… the kind that binds up the broken and sets free the oppressed.  The kind that speaks for the voiceless, and the kind that proclaims the Good News that God loves them and died for them so that they and we can enjoy all the gifts of Gods goodness.  We step into this time, both in penitent reflection of our reality, and in the victory of our future with God, rejoicing in God’s amazing love and goodness.

 

May our prayers, reflections and actions this Lenten season see us step out in faith into the adventurous life that God has planned for us, remembering that we are but dust, but while we now cling to the old rugged cross, we know that one day we will exchange it for a crown.

 

 

Download or Convert video -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJvOejpJltA

Setting people free 4th Feb 2024 Epiphany 5B

2024  02  04   FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY Year B

Isaiah 40:21-31  •  Psalm 147:1-11, 20c  •  1 Corinthians 9:16-23  •  Mark 1:29-39

 

Failure, sickness and death are facts of life that we all share.  However, this is not the way God intended.  The proof is that Jesus came, healed many, raised some to life, and Jesus died to atone for the failure of all.  The question is; how does this play out in our lives today, and make a difference to the way we live?

 

In this season of the green vestments, the Sundays following Epiphany, we have been on a journey of discovery.  We been discovering God’s call to us. We have been reminded that he continues to call us and also calls us to an action.  For Samuel, it was to hear God and deliver His message, for Jonah it was to proclaim God’s word to the Ninevites, showing us God’s love and concern for all, as the Ninevites were Israel’s enemy. Last week we discovered the heart and attitude we need to have as we go about answering that call of God.  We were reminded that Jesus had all authority, yet His attitude was not one that lorded it over people, and in silencing the Demon, rather than proclaim His divinity, and therefore, His authority, He allowed them freedom to choose.  Therefore, the same respectful and freeing attitude of Christ is what we need to exhibit when we are active in our God given calling – which each of us has. – no exceptions.

 

This week we explore the nature of God.  We become fully aware of just how magnificent is the power of God, and we reflect on how that power is manifest in our own lives.  Our first reading and our Psalm both proclaim aspects of God that reveal His magnificence.  “Lift up your eyes on high and see: Who created these? He who brings out their host and numbers them, calling them all by name; because he is great in strength, mighty in power, not one is missing.”  The author is speaking of the stars in the sky.  Not one is missing, because God is in control.  This is the God who parted the sea for the Israelites and fed them with manna in the desert.  When Jesus was revealed to humanity, He commanded storms to cease and trees to wither, demons to come out and be silent and bodies to be healed.  There are many who like to try and make sense of these things by claiming some kind of natural phenomenon.  To them I say, “Is God God, or not?”  and I might quote out reading from Isaiah.

 

God is not some demi-god like we watch in the movies, who loses his hammer and makes bad decisions.  This is our God who created all that is.  He is omnipotent and above time and place.  We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen. We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father; God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God; begotten not made, one in being with the Father….

 

This is our mighty God who, though he spreads out the heavens, he cares for us and heals the sick and casts out demons. His power is limitless and He sent us His Holy Spirit to be with us always.  Perhaps I should pause for our silent reflection……  Are we aware that God is with us?  He wants to be with us and he wants to live through us.  How IS the power of God manifest in our own lives? 

 

Before we all get too hard on ourselves thinking that maybe we could do better….  A great Chinese Christian man by the name of Watchman Nee said, “For those who walk in the Spirit, the supernatural becomes natural.”  Therefore, unless we stop to reflect, we might not realize just what impact our relying on the power of God is having in our lives.  That being said, it is also worth reflecting whether we are relying on God’s power or whether we are living our lives in our own strength.

 

One of the mysteries of our faith is that Jesus was both fully human and fully God.  When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, grew, ministered, suffered and died, He operated as fully human – even though he was fully God.  Because Jesus operated as fully human, He also, like us, needed to rely on the power of God the Father for His ministry.  This is why we find Jesus at times ask, “Who touched me”… and at yet know that something significant and spiritual had happened…. Ah but that story is not until chapter 5 and we are still in chapter 1. 

 

In today’s Gospel passage, we follow on from last week’s reading where Jesus was in the Synagogue teaching and had healed the demonic man.  For us a week has past, but in the story, we are on the same day.  Jesus goes from the Synagogue to Andrew and Simon’s house where they tell him Simon’s mother-in-law has a fever.  This was a time when a fever could end in death.  Jesus heals her and she began to serve them. 

 

Contrary to what some may think, Jesus didn’t heal her so that He’d have someone to serve them dinner.  There are times when Jesus heals and the person healed is so grateful and convicted about the power of God that they want to stay and work with Jesus.  I believe this is one of those situations, and I believe this passage is indicating more than the woman serving dinner.  She served them… His disciples…. She worked with them, assisting them in their ministry.

 

We are told that after sundown, people brought the sick and possessed to Jesus.  Remember the day that Jesus arrived at the house was the Sabbath, but after sundown the Sabbath was over and the healing would have been acceptable by the Pharisees and all those who adhered to God’s laws.

 

This was a time when sickness meant being an outcast, a sinner, a person considered unclean.  We are told that there were various diseases and they were all healed and demons were cast out, but Jesus wouldn’t allow them to speak.

 

There are many speculations about why Jesus wanted the demons to remain silent and not disclose his divinity.  It is called the Messianic Secret.  If Jesus had have allowed them to speak and proclaim His divine nature, it certainly would have drawn attention from the authorities much more quickly, not allowing him the freedom to go to certain places.  But more than that, I believe Jesus kept them silent because he never demanded adoration or worship.  This is a God who desires instead, to be loved by someone who is free to reject him.  It isn’t truly love if we are commanded, coerced or frightened into it.

 

No doubt the healings in themselves created quite a buzz, and Jesus constantly withdrew.  He desired to proclaim the Good News of God’s great love to all and to set people free and that means He desired to heal them of their afflictions also.  Do you think that Jesus, who desired to heal those he encountered, desires you and I to be healed also?  Also, does Jesus still desire to set people outside the churches free by healing them?  How can he reach them today?

 

Freedom has been another theme running from week to week in our Corinthian reading.  We have been set free.  But in the year 2024 have we?  Are we really living in the freedom that Christ brings us?  A great Bible speaker used to say, “You indeed have every gift that God has to offer, but that doesn’t mean that you are enjoying that gift.”  What he means is that God does certainly set us free.  Through the gift of the Holy Spirit sent to the church at Pentecost, we’ve been given access to all that God is, but are we even aware of all that God has given us?

 

The answer is always going to be NO, because the magnitude of God is unfathomable and so too are His gifts.  However, there are some that are obvious and He has revealed them.  The challenge is always going to be there, as we rely on the Holy Spirit to lead us into the revelation of these gifts, but I think it is pretty fair to say that we need to be actively seeking God’s revelation.  God has given the body of Christ every thing it needs…. But are we enjoying those gifts?

 

Are we praying for healing and those people are healed?  Healing is one of the gifts of the spirit.  Jesus did tell His followers, “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” 

 

We are all called by God.  We are all called to an action…  As we go about this ministry, we need to embody the attitude of Christ, who was totally confident in His authority, but totally respected those he dealt with and never demanded anything from them… in fact, there were a number of healed lepers who left Jesus and only one returned to give him thanks.   Did the others lose their healing because they didn’t thank him?  NO - they were all healed – Jesus loves!  In his love he desires to set people free.  For some that meant that he had to cast out demons and for others it meant healing from their diseases and for all of us it means that He made atonement for our sins and we are all forgiven in his sacrifice.

 

We need to know all these things.  Not just believe them… we need to know them by heart, because the next part of our call is to manifest the power of God in our lives so that not only our lives are changed, but also those with whom we meet, talk with and pray for will be healed and set free.

 

Saint Paul explains that he became all things to all people, so that he might save some.  This isn’t about pretending to be something that we are not, but it is about identifying with them.  When we are chatting with someone who feels that they have been unfairly treated, we need to so understand their situation that we can acknowledge their pain.  Then we pray. 

 

Do our prayers achieve anything?  A few days ago, my grand daughter came running into the kitchen at my place holding her finger – which looked totally normal.  “Owie” she said.  And I immediately said, “Nanny will get you ice and fix it”.  “No, Rex” she said.  Previously at my place, she had hurt herself - nothing serious - and Rex did what Rex, my husband always does – He prayed for it.

I don’t know what goes on in that little person’s head, but I do believe that she recognised something of God’s truth - something I too believe, which is that my husband has a special gift of healing.  Early in my relationship with Rex he prayed for my neck pain that I’d been suffering with for a couple of years and was getting worse– and after prayer it started to diminish and finally disappeared.   This little episode with the granddaughter and preparing for this service prompted the question that Rex and I discussed – are we being good stewards with the gifts that God has given us? 

 

When anyone asks, Rex will pray.  I think he is a pretty good steward, but this all prompts another question; do we even know what gifts God has given us? And how can we be good stewards if we aren’t fully aware of the gifts that we have?

 

And here is the next part of our call…. We are called to carry on the work of Jesus in setting people free and we need to understand that in doing this we need to pray for them in the same way as Jesus did - relying on God’s power manifest in our lives, which may include all those gifts of the spirit - words of knowledge, increased faith, the gifts of healing, the gift of miracles, prophecy, the discernment of spirits, kinds of tongues, interpretation of tongues.  

 

After that busy day that we read about Jesus’ healings and casting out demons,  Jesus rose early in the morning and went by himself to pray.  It was in this quiet time with God that Jesus received the direction about what His next action would be… not only that, but it was in that action that he received the energy… the life… the ability to be fit for the task. 

 

Our first reading contains verses that are really special to me; “He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless.  Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; but those who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”

 

Do you feel weary, exhausted, in competent and unworthy?  Good!  You are a prime candidate for a manifestation of God’s power – His power is made perfect in weakness and as we wait on the LORD, we renew our strength and we become fit for the call of God – totally reliant on HIS power.

 

My prayer for us all today, and I hope you can join me in making this a focus for our week to come, is to wait on God, to seek His direction in our lives and to look for opportunities to pray for those we meet.  We ARE the body of Christ and His spirit is truly with us.  Let us BE the body and carry on the ministry of Christ in all its power and love.