Author: reicheltdr

Transfiguration Sunday

The Text: Matthew 17:1-9

 

Here’s a question for you. You’re not allowed to phone a friend, but you could chat with the person next to you. The question is: what is the first commandment? The answer is: ‘You shall have no other gods before me.’ Why would God command that? Is he some sort of control freak or on a power trip? bobIsaiah 40:18-20 (NIV) really gives us the answer:

“To whom, then, will you compare God?

  What image will you compare him to?

As for an idol, a craftsman casts it, and a goldsmith overlays it with gold and fashions silver chains for it.
A man too poor to present such an offering selects wood that will not rot. He looks for a skilled craftsman to set up an idol that will not topple.”

 In the religions of the pagan nations surrounding Israel, each person had their own personal idol they would have had carved or had made and each year they would take it up the mountain for an enthronement festival. God’s own people Israel got caught up in this abomination. Either they made an idol overlaid with gold, or if they are too poor for this, used a block of wood and hoped that it would not be vulnerable to rotting when exposed to the elements! Further, these blocks of wood and stone and metal couldn’t be in all places at once. They couldn’t be a saving presence wherever the people were, so they had to be carted around, and then set up and chained to the carts so that they didn’t fall over in transit! Quite comical, really. And the Israelites themselves fell for this cult of nothingness.

 The irony is astounding. Whereas the Almighty Creator created humankind in his image, mere humans created idols in their own image hoping by them to control the weather, but which were instead impacted by the weather. Those which were not everywhere present had to be carried around, and chained down so they wouldn’t fall over. And so the ironic reality for those who worshipped these idols is that they are not freed by, but chained by these idols and the worship of them and this is their downfall. For even though these idols had carved eyes they couldn’t see. Even though they had carved mouths they couldn’t speak. They were not life giving. They could not save, but only enslave.

 By contrast, today’s account of the transfiguration clearly portrays Jesus as the true living God. Unlike the little idols that had to be pulled up a mountainside on a trolley, Jesus leads Peter, James and John up a high mountain to be with him alone. And for a brief shining moment Jesus is shown in the fullness of his glory to indisputably be the Son of God, the Saviour of the world. And that’s the Father’s verification from the cloud: “This is my Son; with him I am well-pleased.”

 This Jesus is the One, who, up until this point in Matthew’s Gospel, has overcome the Devil’s temptation of him in the wilderness, he has healed lepers, the paralysed, and cast out demons from crowds of people. While he was in a boat with his disciples, he effortlessly calmed the storm that was lashing at it by simply telling it to stop. He restores a little girl to life and heals a woman who had been suffering from bleeding for 12 years. He restores sight to the blind. He feeds the multitudes with five loaves and two fish. He walks on the sea.

 There is nothing outside the scope of Jesus’ authority and power. So confesses Peter, just before our text today, in Matthew 16: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

 There on the unnamed mountain, for a few moments, the appearance of Jesus is changed so that his glorious divinity is on show. This really is the Son of God, the Saviour, God made flesh who dwelt among us, the One in whom the fullness of God dwells in bodily form. Accompanying this dazzling visual manifestation of God’s glory is the Father’s declaration: “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” Then adds: “Listen to him!”

 Why? Because Peter’s not listening.

 Peter just has to say something. We’ve probably all wished that at times: “If only I knew what to say”. Imagine this spectacular sight; it’s impossible to comprehend; it would be mind-blowing—what would we do or say? Peter blurts out the seemingly bizarre offer: “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.”

 Peter wants to hang on to the mountain-top experience. He wants to bask in the glory. He hasn’t listened to what Jesus had just told them (for us, the verses immediately before today’s text: that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things and be killed—to which Peter replies: “No Lord, that will never happen to you!”—and that his disciples must also lose their lives by dying to self and take up their cross and follow him.

 We shouldn’t be too hard on Peter and the others. We have the benefit of the whole story. We’ve received the outpouring of the Holy Spirit after Pentecost to bring to remembrance everything Jesus had said. They were about to lose their dear friend. They were confused and didn’t understand. They expected Jesus was coming to free them; to save them. How then could Jesus possibly talk of death on a Cross? That hardly sounds like the victory and rescue that people had hoped for and had come to see in Jesus.

 Jesus’ claim that he must suffer and die smacks of failure, defeat, and compromise of God’s mission. How can suffering and death possibly happen to the One who is the agent of salvation? How can Jesus succumb to the very forces that he’s just overcome? Where is victory in a ruler who is going to be brutally murdered? Such humiliation sounds preposterous!

 Jesus’ death is not defeat or failure. The transfiguration is the visual confirmation that the freedom and hope they long for in Jesus will be fulfilled. But glory can only come after the Cross, where his death is the beginning of his victorious rule, once for all. Here Jesus will liberate from sin, Satan and death itself.

 Perhaps, like the disciples, we too have experiences in our faith journey where God does not work in the way we would expect. We might struggle to understand what he is doing—or seemingly not doing—in our lives. We might not like the sound of ‘dying to self’ and ‘taking our Cross’ and following Jesus. But only when we do, do we grow in Christian faith and love and life, becoming more like Jesus himself.

 “This is My Son; with him I am well-pleased. Listen to him.” When our faith journey is not going as we might expect it to, our text today gives us hope in three ways. First, in Christ, God is a personal God. He is a God of communication. A relational God. He has something important to say to us. He wants to speak to us. Unlike carved idols, He can…and does speak.  He wants to talk with us and reveal himself and his saving will to us. “This is my Son; with him I am well-pleased. Listen to him.”

 Second, when we do listen to Jesus, we grow in the life of God. When we hold firm to the Word of God and endure in faith to the end, we too will join Peter and James and John and will see Christ face to face in all his glory, not just for a fleeting glimpse but for all eternity. Despite our failings and ways we haven’t taken up our Cross and followed Jesus, but have followed our own heart, or the times we haven’t died to self but revelled in it, through trusting in Christ and his word, we are pronounced righteous, not guilty and we will see Jesus face to face for all eternity and he will say to us, as he did to the terrified disciples: “Do not be afraid.”

 Third, until that time, whenever that day will be, Jesus journeys with us. “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” the Father says. When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified. But Jesus came and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Don’t be afraid.” When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus. As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus came down with them.

 Jesus is on the plain with us too. He is in the wilderness. He is in those parts of our lives where there seems to be no hope of change for the better, those parts of our lives where we just don’t know what to do, who to turn to, or what to pray. Jesus journeys with us in the depths of our despair and brokenness, our illness, our struggles, our grief and pain. He journeys with us and will remain faithful to his promises even in the times we are unfaithful to him.

 How does our appearance need to be transfigured? Where do the commandments painfully show us the areas in our lives where real change needs to come? As we are called to die to self by picking up our cross and following Jesus, hear his comforting words to each of us: “Get up. … Do not be afraid.”

 For he is with us and will remain faithful to his promises to us to the very day when he will take us up the mount and we see him in the fullness of his glory, worshipping him forever in brilliant and dazzling light. There, our mortal bodies will also be transfigured to be completely without sin and frailty. Our face will shine like the sun, our clothes will be as white as the brightest light as we stand in the presence of the Lamb.

 Praise be to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, because all of this is possible only because of him alone. The mountain of transfiguration points ahead to the mountain of Calvary, where Jesus’ blood brought us victory over the devil and released us from our sins.

 His outstretched arms nailed to the wood of the cross are the keys to the gate of Heaven, for us. Nothing else could possibly be added to his sufficient work. Nothing else needs to be. You share in all of this, personally, through your baptism into Christ. By virtue of baptism, we become children of God. That is why the Father’s proclamation about Jesus in our text are his words to us: “You are my son/my daughter whom I love, with you I am well pleased.”

 Where else could you possibly find more precious words?

Amen.

Sixth Sunday of Epiphany

Deuteronomy 30:15-20; 1 Corinthians 3:1-9; Mathew 5:21-37

The “Sermon on the Mount” before us in St Matthew 5 this morning is sometimes referred to as having in it “The Beatitudes”. gordon3These different terms brings to our attention how the church at various times has profoundly distorted the meaning of the so-called Sermon on the Mount.  In St Matthew’s gospel which is directed primarily to and associated with the Jewish Christian community, is one in which we are meant to see a type of New Moses who delivers to the 12 disciples, representing the 12 tribes of Israel, a new law.  But the new law which Jesus teaches is such that it puts an end to understanding the law as a way of salvation.  ‘Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and the pharisees you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven’. ‘Thou shall not kill’ means you shall not be angry, and the consequences of anger is hell fire.

The law says, ‘you shall worship the Lord your God and him alone’. But worship becomes and is impossible if, in bringing your offering, you have some grievance, or someone has a grievance against you. In these words, Jesus indicates at one and the same time the drastic judgement that has come into the world in his word and work and the help and comfort which his teaching brings.

Yes, help and comfort! This intensification of the law’s demands by Jesus teaching shows the depths of our alienation from the created truth of our life in relationship to the source of our life in God.  The ‘thou shalt’ in front of the commandment to love God, which we understand so well, is the one thing we should not understand. The thou shalt in front of the commandment to love and worship God indicates the depths of our rejection of the truth of our life in relationship to God. It shouldn’t be there, but we understand the command so well when we hear it and that tells us that we in fact don’t love or worship God. We would rather hide from God with our guilty conscience.

Jesus knows this and He faces us with the contradiction in which God finds us all. But Jesus does this not in order to leave us with the knowledge of our incapacity and alienation. He is the one in whom our incapacity and alienation is overcome, in him God is loved and worshipped for God’s sake alone: the unselfconscious relationship of love and truth which exists by nature between the eternal Father and the eternal Son in the eternal Spirit is now made ours by grace. For in the obedient humanity of Jesus who receives that full measure of the Spirit in his baptism He goes on to fulfil every jot and tittle of the Law. Not for his own sake, he didn’t need to be made righteous he is the ever-righteous Son of the Father, he obeys the Law for our sake. Even though through His obedience he suffers his death on the cross as the Judge judged in place of all.

Thus, the Sermon on the Mount cannot be understood if it is separated from Jesus and turned into an assembly of moral maxims.  The sermon on the Mount is not a rarefied form of the old law of Israel.  If we were to take the sermon as moral exhortation to us it would make no sense at all; it would be irrelevant to our human condition, and most of us are aware of this when we read “The Sermon on the Mount.”  For example, Jesus says that unless our righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and pharisees, “we will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven”, that is the righteousness of those who made it their life’s work to study and apply the law.

If we think we can overcome this problem by saying that the scribes and pharisees were interested only in the outward performance of the law, whereas Jesus is concerned with inward motivation.  Well, if we think this, and many of us have heard sermons which portray the verses of the sermon on the mount as a series of moral ideals to strive after. But let us attend seriously to Jesus’ words. “The law of old says you shall not kill but I say to you ……whoever says, ‘you fool’ shall be liable to hell fire”. Further Jesus says, The Law of old says, “You shall not commit adultery”, ……. I say to you whoever looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart”.

This supreme intensification, the radicalisation, of the law by Jesus words is to indicate that the way to righteousness by fulfilling the law by our outward action or inward motivation is an impossibility.  Jesus builds a mile-high wall around the law as a way of righteousness.

He does this in order to invite us to allow our lives to be illumed by Him who speaks these words to us.  For, he says, he has come to fulfil the law not to abolish it.  But Jesus fulfilment of the law is not for his sake, he as the Son of God knows no sin.  He fulfils the law in our humanity for our sake. 

When Jesus in these same verses pronounces his disciples “blessed”, this is no pious incantation, but a declaration that all that he is in himself in relation to God, as the one who fulfils the law, is theirs as His gift to them. So, what the disciples take away from the mountain is not the law of righteousness but righteousness itself.  And it is this gift, identical with the life and presence of Jesus with them, that distinguishes the disciples as the foundation of the New Israel, the church, whose central act of worship is Jesus own appointed way of giving us to participate in his own eternal righteousness and life: His word and His sacraments.

This, however, brings us to one of the consequences of these miraculous words of Jesus in his so-called “Sermon on the Mount”. For if it is true that Jesus words bestow upon Christians by His grace, a new righteousness, as Jesus takes to Himself our sin and gives us the righteousness of His obedience unto death; then this has implications for our lives.

The “But I say” sayings of the “The Sermon on the Mount.” All these verses presuppose, assume, that because of Jesus presence with the disciples, his call of them, and His naming of them as ‘blessed’ because the purpose of the old law of Moses, which stated where his people ought to be in relationship to God and their neighbour, this purpose has now come to fulfilment in all that Jesus wills to be for the disciples through his binding of himself to them.  The ought of the old law, you ought to do this or that,  this has now been replaced by the “you are” of Jesus blessing of his disciples in his sermon on the Mount, giving them to participate in His own eternal righteousness,.

The new righteousness of the disciples which they receive by Jesus identification with them has its consequences in practical terms; why, because Jesus identifies himself with them as God’s enemies. They understand only too well the ‘Thou shalt in front of the commandments and therefore identify themselves as haters of God, His enemies.  So the principle of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, the law of retaliation against the enemy is now set aside because the one whose life the disciples now share, by the grace of Jesus call, is the one whose life is taken up, spent, in the service of God’s enemies.

These words are not to be interpreted as an abstract principle of non-resistance as a form of natural political wisdom of a sage.  The named enemies here are God’s enemy.  The question here is that there can no longer be any grounds for holy wars about holy lands.  The coming of Jesus puts an end to the justification of war, between nations and individuals based on faith.  The holy wars that Israel fought against its neighbours has come to an end, there can be no more holy land since the Messiah has come, the whole earth is become the subject of God’s reign of righteousness. The mission of the church as the New Israel is to the whole Gentile world. The fulfilment by Jesus of the old covenant has this effect for the church – that Christians are to relate to non-Christians as those enemies of God with whom Jesus identifies himself.  Jesus breaks down the dividing wall of national and individual difference by tying all people together as God’s enemies that he may have mercy on all.

It is this mercy of God by which Christians live that ties them to their non-Christian neighbours in a solidarity which finds expression in this generosity of Jesus words in Jesus sermon. This generosity of the second mile in patience and forbearance toward the one who treats them as an enemy, expresses the patience and forbearance of God which has come to light in Jesus, adopting the place of the enemy of God, with all that that involves for him in the cross. It is this demanding, drastic freedom, which Jesus bestows upon Christians in the righteousness He gives them in His words of this ‘Sermon on the mount’. For when Jesus calls a person, as Deitrich Bonhoeffer once said, “He bids him come and die.”

Dr Gordon Watson.

Fifth Sunday of Epiphany

  Jesus calls out to us with the words,
  “You are the salt of the earth.”  And again, “You are the light of the world”.

The prophet Moses approached his call to be light and salt timidly,  He said, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”  To which God answered, “I will be with you.”

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The Apostle Paul, called to witness Christ Jesus to both Jew and Gentile, also approached his call to be light and salt with some reservations.  Paul writes, ‘when I came to you, I was weak and trembled all over with fear, ‍and my teaching and message were not delivered with skillful words of human wisdom.’  To which God gave Paul divine truth to share with simple words centered on Jesus Christ and his cross. 

Let’s join in a word of  prayer: Loving God our Father, today we gather to worship You and to celebrate the light that our Saviour brings into our lives and the salt that preserves the message of salvation in the power of your Holy Spirit. God our Father, guide our steps and our lives with the light of Christ, as you open our minds and hearts by your Holy Spirit.  Preserve within us the wisdom You have for us, and strengthen our  faith, to be salt and light for people around us. Gracious heavenly Father, hear our prayer for the sake of our risen Lord,  Amen.

A camera in my hands will only capture a few personally precious moments.  A camera in the hands of Ken Duncan will record a pantheon of life in Australia.   It depends on whose hands it’s in. A tennis racquet in my hands will only lob the ball into the net, but a tennis racquet in the hands of Novak Djokovic will mean a Grand Slam title.   It depends on whose hands it’s in. A staff in my hands might help knock an apple from a tree branch, but a staff in the hands of Moses parted the mighty sea.   It depends on whose hands it’s in. A sling shot in my hands is a kid’s toy, but a sling shot in the hands of the shepherd king David was a mighty weapon.  It depends on whose hands it’s in. Two fish and 5 loaves of bread in my hands is a couple of fish sandwiches, but two fish and 5 loaves of bread in the hands of  Christ Jesus fed thousands.  It depends on whose hands it’s in. Nails in my hands might produce a simple bird feeder, but nails in the hands of Jesus Christ produced salvation for all people of faith.  It depends on whose hands it’s in.

As I have repeated several times. It all depends on whose hands it’s in.  When we put our concerns, our worries, our fears, our hopes, our dreams, our gifts and our relationships in God’s hands, that will make all the difference.  Because it depends on whose hands it’s in.  (Author Unknown)

In the example of the great prophet Moses, and the great Apostle Paul, we are reminded that it isn’t by our eloquence or brilliance that we witness Christ as Lord.  But simply by the epiphany of Christ as our personal Saviour, in our simple words, our soothing attitudes, and our loving actions.  As we put ourselves in the hands of our Saviour.
It’s clear that it was no coincidence Jesus chose salt and light as examples for our life in him that is shared with others as a living witness. 

Neither salt nor light exists for themselves. They only fulfil their purpose when they are poured out and when they shine.  As I consider the combination of today’s readings, I come to the conclusion that, like savoury salt, we are to be drawn to others to make a difference in their lives, all in the Lord Jesus Christ.  And that, like light, we are to be a warm beacon for others, drawing them to the Lord Jesus Christ.  In both cases, we walk together with Jesus Christ in the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Salt remains in the background, only useful in conjunction with the food it seasons.   Once at a Bible Study, some young people were discussing this text.  They were suggesting uses of salt, and the meaning.  One said, “Salt gives flavour to food”.  Another said, “It also preserves food to keep it from decaying.” Then one girl said, “salt makes you thirsty.”   Since I encountered this, the question that has haunted me is, “have I ever made anyone thirsty for Jesus?”  Perhaps a question for each of us. We are that kind of salt when we allow our hearts to show the world the peace and joy of our salvation by what they see in our eyes.

When we allow the compassion of our attitudes reveal Christ in our interactions.  When we allow the encouraging words of hope to be what they hear from our lips.  All the result of the Holy Spirit filling and guiding us – making others thirsty for the confidence we have in living with Jesus in our hearts.

By contrast, light never remains in the background. Light fills the space it occupies with warm rays of confidence.  Light draws attention to itself by it’s very nature. When the light of Christ beams out from our lives, we cannot help to draw attention to the goodness of our Saviour.

When it comes to showing the world that we are children of God, and that we are loved by Jesus Christ, God’s Holy Spirit makes all the difference, giving us the courage to be the light to the world that cannot be hidden away.  And that will make a difference in the life of someone who desperately needs to see that light of Jesus Christ.  Someone we may not even recognise.

It would never occur to those who don’t know Jesus Christ, to turn on that light in their life.  Not unless they see the light of peace, joy, hope and love that our Saviour’s light shows them through our lives of faith.

 I am convinced they would never notice the light of Christ shining through our lives, unless we first enter their lives as quietly as salt.  Showing them our friendship and compassion.  I have seen that light streaming through the lives of so many here at St Peter’s as we engage with each other with such gentle caring.

The big question is, ‘how do we sustain this?’ 

Christ Jesus gives us the answer in what seems to be harsh words at the end of the reading for today.  Jesus says,  “Do not think that I have come to do away with the Law of Moses and the teachings of the prophets. I have not come to do away with them, but to make their teachings come true.”   

The heart of the law of Moses and the teachings of the Prophets is summed up in other words of Jesus,   “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  And Love your neighbour as yourself.’” (Mt 22:37~40 NIV84)  Jesus fulfilled the heart and the letter of the law perfectly.

What I’ve noticed is that if we approach every interaction with others, anxious about being salt and light to that person; anxious about fulfilling the heart of the law of Moses — we will spend our time concentrating on ourselves with anxiety and fear. 

From Scriptures, I am sure that is not what Jesus wants us to do, and it’s not what Jesus Christ entered our lives to do.  Jesus came to make his teachings come true.  To make the way for the Holy Spirit to change our nature to be like him.  To approach every interaction with others, just to love them. To care about them.  To show them Jesus. 

As we let each encounter with another to be a natural outflow of ourselves, we let Jesus be present.  And we let our Christian friends show us their love as well.   Just as Paul says, ‘Your faith, then, does not rest on human wisdom but on God’s power.’

So what happens, if, at one time or another,  we just can’t be salt and light?  The good news is that we have a Saviour who understands everything about being human.  Who shows us his love in all the times of our lives, whether times of failure or times of success.  We can let his forgiveness and love surround us and encourage us, rather than fill our spirit with guilt and anxiety.  Just  continue to let the Holy Spirit work in our lives.  After all, we are not a finished product and we will only be perfect when we reach eternity and stand by the side of our Saviour.

As Paul wrote in Romans,  “We are made right in God’s sight when we trust in Jesus Christ to take away our sins. And we all can be saved in this same way, no matter who we are or what we have done.”    As for me, I won’t ever know the full impact of what my living example might have on someone else.  Whether  good or bad.  Whatever I might influence them to be and do. Whether good or bad.  So I ponder the question ‘where does that leave me’?  And others as I suspect.

I suppose in the worst case, to be counted  least in the Kingdom of Heaven.    But really, that is good news. What a relief that is!  Even when I continue living in this broken world, subject to the sinfulness that is part of life, Jesus has made the way for me to enter the Kingdom of Heaven; by His own sacrifice, and our faith in him.   I can envision that being even the least in the Kingdom of Heaven as having an eternal future that is far above anything I could hope for or expect in this world. 

And that is just the starting point for every Christian.  Given the right to become children of God by our faith in his Son.  Jesus also says, “But anyone who obeys God’s laws and teaches them will be great in the Kingdom of Heaven.”

I suspect there is only one who ever truly obeyed God’s laws; only one who ever rightly taught God’s laws. Jesus Christ, our Saviour.  He came to earth to “fulfil the law of Moses and the writings of the prophets.”  And rightly so, Jesus is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.  He is our High Priest, our King, and our Saviour.  We hold Him up as the example for our joyous living, and we hold the  Commandments as the law of God which is the mirror of our own sad reality. 

But our Triune God sees us through the prism of the one who fulfilled the whole law.   So our destiny is somewhere between being least in the Kingdom of Heaven and  being just short of great in the Kingdom of Heaven. 

What a wonderful and exciting destiny. And we are all in this together.  We are all destined for the eternal Kingdom of Heaven with Jesus our Lord. 

What hope this gives to all of us.   What energy it gives to know that God loves us that much.  How this Good News can fill us with renewed enthusiasm to try again to be the person that Jesus wants each of us to be.  And what encouragement it provides to try again to be salt and light to the world around us.

As we let God’s Holy Spirit make us into the salt and light for the world, the grace and peace of God, keep our hearts and minds in the calm assurance of eternal salvation in our living Lord, Christ Jesus.   Amen.
David Thompson.

Fourth Sunday of Epiphany

The Text: 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 (ESV)

18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”

20 Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?

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21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. 22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

 

Dear heavenly Father, send your Holy Spirit on us so we may boast in the cross of Jesus Christ. Amen.

 

As our church attendances dwindle, our attempts at evangelism struggle, and the number of empty pews multiply, have you ever thought God should have a better marketing plan?

 

For example, why doesn’t he just give people what they want? If people pray for healing – give it to them. If people pray for success – give it to them. If people pray for rain so their crops would grow – give it to them. If people pray for a sunny day so they can enjoy a leisurely day outside – give it to them. Surely God’s powerful and clever enough to direct sun in one place and rain on another!

 

Just think, if God would give everyone what they want, don’t you think it follows that every worship service would be about receiving power, success, prosperity, intelligence, beauty, health, long life, and so on. Don’t you think this would be very attractive?

 

You’d think this would also mean every church would have impressive and charismatic preachers the people would admire and want to emulate. Everyone would get to sing the hymns and songs they want to sing. We wouldn’t even need to be choosy about which church to go to because every church would offer exactly what we want.

 

If God gave people what they wanted, then wouldn’t our own church, and the whole world, be filled with dedicated disciples who sing God’s praises at all times and in every place?

 

But what does he do instead?

 

He asks us to ‘foolishly’ believe the God who creates the universe and all its wonders, came to earth as a humble human being in order to serve us by suffering and dying on a cruel cross without even putting up a struggle, and that somehow through the shedding of his innocent blood, we obtain forgiveness of sins, peace in heart, body and soul, and life eternal through faith.

 

In other words, God markets his peace, life, and salvation through his Son’s agonising death on a cross!

 

What’s more, he then gets human beings who are weak, selfish, sinful, uninspiring, and incompetent to preach the message of Jesus Christ crucified to a doubtful and disbelieving world who would rather God would just give them what they want, and who often blame God for everything which goes wrong in their lives even though they’re more to blame than he is.

 

He also gets you, his proud, selfish, and fiercely independent people to gather together to admit to each other (and the world) that you’ve stuffed up and sinned against God and others around you. He asks you to believe his words of forgiveness are effectual even though they’re spoken by imperfect people.

 

He asks you to believe a simple washing with water in the name of our Triune God joins you to Jesus and grants eternal life in God’s kingdom. He also expects you to believe a small wafer of bread and a little sip of wine is the true body and blood of Jesus Christ!

 

Do you realise how foolish, absurd, and ridiculous this sounds to most people? And we wonder why more people don’t coming flocking to our church in order to be disciples of Christ!

 

While we might think God needs a better marketing plan of power, wealth, health, and success in order for more people to believe and trust in him, God instead, in his infinite wisdom, expects us to market the shameful and humiliating death of Jesus Christ on a cross, with all its accompanying weakness, humility, and foolishness!

 

God seems to delight in doing things all mixed up, turned about topsy-turvy, and the wrong way around! I mean, just listen to what we call ‘the Beatitudes’ in the Gospel reading for today – Jesus calls spiritually poor people, mourners, and those who seek the peace of God the ‘blessed ones’, when everyone else today thinks the rich, intelligent, beautiful and successful are the blessed ones!

 

He also doesn’t do what we expect him to do (at least, not according to human wisdom and logic), but does things in his own way and timing, including giving his divine gifts (such as forgiveness and eternal life), to undeserving people like you and me.

 

Not only this, but as people who believe in what he achieved for us on the cross of Christ, he asks you to live the way of the cross by loving and forgiving your enemies and all those who hurt you.

 

But, like it or not, this is the way and wisdom of God – and thank God for that!

 

I mean, if any of us were God (which is the original sin which got the human race into trouble in the first place, and still continues to get you and me into trouble), wouldn’t we only choose the good, strong, intelligent, beautiful, or wise to be part of this congregation or part of God’s people? Wouldn’t we only choose those who do the right thing by us or who agree with us? Imagine then, if it were really up to us, how few people there’d be here today, or even more tellingly – how few people we’d receive into heaven!

 

Part of the point is, if God were to work the same way as you and me, would he choose you? Would he choose me? Would you and I ever be good enough, strong enough, healthy enough, beautiful enough, smart enough, or even faithful enough for God? If you could only be chosen by God if you always did the right thing by God or to those around you, would God ever choose you?

 

Sure, our God demands perfection, and God makes it clear through his word (and through our own consciences) that we all fail to live according to his ways and so therefore deserve punishment. None of us deserve eternal life in heaven.

 

Yet God, in his wisdom, sent his only Son to us as a human being in order to live perfectly and obediently for us. He also took on all our sin and punishment for us and then died for us. He paid the full price for our sin so that we would be forgiven and no longer need to fear punishment from God any more.

 

In other words, we don’t need to be perfect because he was perfect for us! We’re made acceptable and worthy of heaven only because of what Jesus did for us and through our faith in this fact.

 

God, in his wisdom, gathers strangers together, like you and me, in order to receive his gifts of grace upon grace through his Word, through Baptism, and through the Lord’s Supper. He makes these strangers into family – that is, he makes us all brothers and sisters related through the blood of Christ, who not only want to receive the grace of God, but also want to share the grace of God with each other.

 

God, in his infinite wisdom, calls us to love and forgive others as he first loves us. This is foolish in a world which demands payback, put-downs, isolation, rejection, and revenge, yet he proclaims forgiveness of sins through the death of his Son so that you and I would be at peace with him. Then, as those who have been forgiven, he calls each of us to also forgive, including those who hurt us. Strangely, this forgiveness is the only way which offers true reconciliation and peace for troubled consciences, hearts and minds.

 

God, in his wisdom, doesn’t always give us what we want, because we’ll never be truly satisfied anyway. Not only this, but he doesn’t always give us what we want because getting our own way often hurts those around us.

 

God, in his wisdom, chose to love the fools of this world (like you and me). This doesn’t mean we’re all idiots or stupid, but that we have the faith to trust the wisdom of God when our own understanding falters. While this may make us all ‘fools’ in the world’s eyes; in God’s eyes our faith in him makes us the wise and blessed ones.

 

God, in his wisdom, chose the weak, because if we were strong, we might think he chose us for our strength or physical abilities. But because we’re not strong or powerful or mighty, we rely on, and trust in, his strength instead of our own.

 

Unfortunately for so many in the world today, the stumbling blocks to faith are pride, self-glory, intellect, strength and nobility, yet these are what Jesus gave up on the cross…for you and me, so that we may live with him in eternal righteousness, innocence, and blessedness.

 

I mean, put it this way: when we get to heaven, and as our knees shake before God as we give an account for all our life: for all our thoughts, words and actions (or lack of them), what will we point to? Our intellect? Our strength? Our good intentions? Our good works? If we were to point to any of these, we’d be labelled a fool and laughed out of heaven!

 

You see, our only boast, our only claim for salvation in front of God, is Jesus Christ crucified on the cross.

 

In this way we boast in his suffering.

We boast in his death.

We boast in his resurrection.

We boast he’s forgiven us even though we don’t deserve it.

We boast in his gift of washing, adoption, and new-life given in baptism.

We boast in the gift of his body and blood to nourish and reassure us of his love and forgiveness through his Holy Supper.

We boast in the proclamation of Christ crucified through human beings, no matter what they look like or how long their sermons go for.

We boast in the cross of Jesus Christ, crucified for us to save us and reconcile us with his Father in heaven.

 

While it’s not the best marketing plan in the world, it’s the wisdom of God to proclaim Christ crucified. His suffering and death (which takes away all our sin), proclaims God’s love for you and me better than giving us everything we want would.

 

Therefore, if we think we’re not good enough, smart enough, or able to be a good person by our own strength, then that’s a good thing! You see, only then, as ‘fools’ who totally rely on the grace of God through Christ Jesus are we wise enough to no longer boast in ourselves or our own achievements, but we’re ready to boast only in Christ and his death on the cross so that…

 

…the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus crucified. Amen.

Third Sunday of Epiphany

The Text: Matthew 4:12-23

Echoing the Gospel

 

John the Baptist’s ministry was ended. The work that God called him to do was done. John preached the Word he was given, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Mt 3:2), and, “behold, the Lamb of20180311_103505 (1) God who takes away the sin of the word” (Jn 1:29).

For faithfully witnessing about Christ John was put in prison. He condemned King Herod’s marriage as adultery, and rightly so. But Herod was not interested in the Word of God and he locked John away. The baptiser decreased: Jesus was increasing (Jn 3:30).

After Jesus was baptised He overcame the temptations of the devil in the wilderness. Then we read that Jesus goes to live in Capernaum, on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee. Living there Jesus fulfils the prophecy we heard earlier from Isaiah, that the Lord has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.

Capernaum is in the north of Israel, where Jews and Gentiles lived side by side. The Jews in Jerusalem regarded Galilee as a backwater, and the Jews who lived there were considered lesser Jews than themselves. But it is among those thought of as being less – second rate Jews and pagan Gentiles – that Jesus went to live and first began to preach about the kingdom of God.

Jesus’ preaching was straight to the point, “Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand.” In this preaching we hear the messages of the Law and the Gospel. The two go hand in hand, never to be separated, but always clearly distinguished. To only preach “repent” will motivate people to run around and do all sorts of good works. That kind of Church looks very busy, but it is all done in the hope of showing their repentance to God, but never knowing for certain if God loves them. There is no rest in a church like that. Preaching Law without Gospel drives people to despair.

To only preach “the kingdom of God is at hand”, referring to the riches of God’s grace, makes believers think they do no wrong. If the Law—the Ten Commandments—are not preached, how do we know what sin is? Preaching Gospel without Law makes saints into sinners.

John the Baptist, and all the prophets before him, preached repentance and the nearness of God’s kingdom. Jesus was echoing John, who in turn echoed the prophets. In time, the apostles and pastors who followed Jesus would echo His words and call sinners to repentance and point them to God’s forgiveness. 

The first disciple of Jesus came from among those Jews in Galilee. The first disciples were fishermen—devout, hard working men who were looking for the Messiah. John the Baptist pointed them to Jesus and now their Lord comes to them and commands them, “follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Peter and Andrew follow without hesitation. James and John join them. Soon others would join them.

These men left everything to follow Jesus. They left behind their families and homes, their work and communities, all to follow Jesus, and learn to be fishers of people.

It is the preaching of Law and Gospel—repentance and the nearness of God’s kingdom—that enabled those fishermen to leave their nets. It is the powerful Word of God that planted the seed of faith and hope in their hearts and made them disciples. It is the same Word of God that convicts us of sin—the Word that brings us the forgiveness Jesus earned on the cross and raises us to new life in Baptism. It is the Word of absolution proclaimed in the Divine Service that removes my guilt before coming to the Altar to eat the visible Word that grants life everlasting. In all these ways the kingdom of heaven is at hand when the King comes and does His work of bringing heaven to us.

This understanding that the divine Word gives us cannot be found anywhere else. The knowledge of what is truly sin and displeasing to God comes only from the Word, not a dream or government policy or society. If we use human wisdom to determine what sin is, that list would change continuously.

The Gospel comes from the same Word. The Good News of the Son of God becoming man, then dying for sinners and rising from dead is not a message that could come from any human author. The Gospel is the wonderful revelation of God’s grace for sinners. It shows us the Lamb who was slain for us, so we can have life with God now and forever. The Word of the Gospel comes as light into our hearts driving to drive out darkness and death.

We are all encouraged to echo what we have heardTo speak again what the prophets and apostles said: To witness Christ crucified for sinners. Now, those who witness the cross are regarded by many as old fashioned. But to witness anything else is to deny that we are born sinners and that we have a Saviour. Christians who hold to the promises of the Word are thought of as fools. The world rejects the authority of Word of God. But to Jesus’ disciples, to you and me, the message of our crucified Saviour is peace and life; for, The word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God (1Cor 1:18).

It is by the power of God that we are disciples of Jesus. We cannot make ourselves His followers. It happens when the Holy Spirit calls us by the Gospel and we realise that God’s love for this sinner, and that everything needed for my salvation has been already been done by Jesus. Trusting the message of the Gospel is called faith, and it can only happen by hearing the Word of God.

A disciple of Jesus listens, learns and lives by the Word of God. It is our lifeline to God. Disciples hear the Word as the voice of God. We listen to God speak in the reading of Scripture in the Divine Service, the preaching of the Church, the richness of the hymns. We listen to the Word at home, where the Lord speaks as we come to the Word daily to be fed by Him.

Disciples listen and we learn and grow in the Word together as Church. Being a disciple of Jesus is not only about you and your Bible. We are baptised into the Church, made part of the body of Christ which stretches back to Adam and Eve, to Moses and Abraham, to Luther and Sasse. We seek the wisdom of the ages to understand the Word of God, because they had the Holy Spirit also.

Jesus’s disciples listen and learn, and we live by the Word. Through the Word, God communicates His life to us, in forgiving our sins and in granting us the Holy Spirit; the Lord and giver of Life. In the Word joined to water, bread and wine, God grants us heavenly gifts.

The disciples of Jesus listen, learn and live by the Word, and we echo that Word. We speak to others what we hear from Jesus. We shine the light that has driven the darkness from our hearts. The same Word that speaks Jesus to us, we share to make Him known among our family and friends and work colleagues. We are fishers of people as we follow Jesus and echo His words. Even the power to speak the Word does not come from us. It comes from the Word in us, from the Holy Spirit who lives in us and brings the words of Jesus to mind.

It is important for us to know that we never graduate from being a disciple. We are always a learner. As long as we remain in this sinful flesh we need to hear the call to repent and feed again on the forgiveness God. We never complete our learning.

Being a disciple of Jesus does not necessarily mean you have to leave your job or family or community. It may of course mean exactly that. Some men are called to move and study at Australian Lutheran College to train for pastoral ministry. Others are called to be camp directors or lay workers or Bible translators, far away from where they once lived.

Most of us are called to be a disciple right where you are now, to your family or housemates, to your neighbourhood and community. Wherever you live, Jesus calls you to follow Him, listen to His words, receive His grace and mercy and echo His words in your home, your marriage, to your friends, even to your enemies. That is what Jesus did and He was saved from death. He commands us to do the same and He promises to rescue us from all our sins and raise us from dead.

Let us always give thanks to God who speaks so clearly about our salvation in Christ, and who gives us His Holy Spirit to keep us believing. Praise God that He daily catches us up in the net of the Gospel and leads us to catch others with the gifts of forgiveness and promise of life everlasting. Let us keep hearing the Divine Word that we remain disciples of Jesus, who leads His people onto the joys of heaven. Amen.

Let’s pray. Lord, keep us steadfast in your Word, that walking in the footsteps of Jesus we would be built up in faith and echo the Gospel to the world, so that your kingdom would grow. Amen.

The peace of God that passes all understanding, keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.                                    

Second Sunday of Epiphany

John 1:29
John saw Jesus coming to him, and said, “There is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
Jesus said “Come and see!”

Come and see!

 “Look! There is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” This is what John the Baptist said when he caught sight of Jesus.  He went on to say, “I can tell you Jesus is the Son of God.” (John 1:34).

The next day John sees Jesus again and states for all to hear, “Look! There is the Lamb of God!”

What are we to make of John the Baptist calling Jesus a lamb?  I know we use that sentence in our service order almost every Sunday, and many of us are very familiar with this language but have you ever really thought about what John was really saying about Jesus. dhuff

We can’t dismiss what John the Baptist says here as just the ramblings of a weirdo from the wilderness.  To call Jesus “The Lamb of God” must have been important otherwise the Gospel writer wouldn’t have bothered to include this description of Jesus.  And believe me, when the John the gospel writer includes a statement like this, we ought to sit up and listen.

Let’s talk about lambs for a minute. 
They are cute and cuddly. 
They are vulnerable and helpless. 
They are an easy meal for foxes and dingoes.
They have a mob mentality that makes it difficult to get them to go where you want them to go.  Try and get a mob of sheep to go through a gate is a very challenging job and they will refuse to go through no matter how much you whoop and holler.  But when one goes through and the rest follow.  

Their stubbornness and lack of understanding of danger is well known.  None of this is a good reason to call Jesus a lamb.

Why doesn’t John the Baptist say,
“Look! There is the Lion of God!” or
“There is the Eagle of God” or
“There is the Serpent of God” (thinking of the serpent that Moses put on a pole that saved the people of Israel).
These are all powerful images and immediately would have fitted with the kind of messiah everyone was expecting – a mighty and powerful ruler.  But a lamb?

The Gospel writer includes this statement of John the Baptist because he is very keen on making sure everyone gets it right about who Jesus is. 
Jesus is God; the same God who loved and cared for the people of Israel centuries before.  Just as God loved, cared and rescued his people in the past, he will do so again, this time through Jesus, Immanuel, God with us. 

Let’s look at some reasons why John the Baptist uses the image of a lamb.  Recall the time God rescued his people from slavery and death in Egypt.  A lamb was killed and its blood painted on the doorposts and the people were saved and given a new hope for the future.  Through the blood of the lamb, God rescued his people.  This became known as the Passover Lamb.

Then there were ritual sacrifices in the temple in Jerusalem.  Even though the temple had been destroyed by the time John wrote his Gospel, and lambs were no longer a part of the ritual sacrifices, John the Baptist’s statement about Jesus being the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world would have raised a few eyebrows.  Was John suggesting here that Jesus is the new sacrificial lamb for the sin of all people?

This thought is backed up by the familiar Old Testament passage,
“He was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed … like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth” (53:7).
This person who will bear the punishment we deserve and die in our place will suffer like a lamb to be slaughtered.

So, with all this background information about the Passover Lamb, the lambs sacrificed in the temple, and the prophesy that there is one coming who will suffer for the sins of all people and be slaughtered like a lamb, we are beginning to understand why John said, “Look! There is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” This image of the lamb tells us a lot about Jesus. 

The Lamb of God is the one who rescues us, releases us from the power of everything that holds us back, frees us from the sentence of death.  He gives us life, eternal life, because all our sin has been wiped away and we are able to inherit a place in heaven. 
Because of the blood of the Lamb we are made clean and white. 
We are forgiven and free. 
Without a doubt, we are God’s precious dearly loved treasures and the Lamb will even give his life for us.

Having said all this about John the Baptist’s proclamation, “Look! There is the Lamb of God”, I’m not sure we have yet discovered the complete reason why the gospel writer has included this in his book.  Yes, it’s a valuable piece of information but there’s more.

An important question that I like to ask myself as I read the Bible is, “So what?”  It’s great to know all these nice things about Jesus – how he is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world but these are just facts. Interesting facts,
important facts,
thought provoking facts,
fascinating facts,
and for some, yes, they might seem irrelevant facts because they have gone right over their heads.

What is important in the reading today is what happened after John the Baptist’s pronouncement, “Look! There is the Lamb of God!” Two men who had been following John, looked Jesus up and we are told they remained with him the rest of the day. 

The word used here is the same used later by John in chapter 15 and has been translated as ‘abide’ or ‘remain’ or ‘stay’ meaning a very close relationship is created between Jesus and those who ‘abide’ in him. Jesus talked about his relationship with us, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”
The point I want to make is that when these two disciples, Andrew and probably John, met with Jesus, they remained with him, they formed a close relationship with Jesus, and something happened that changed them.

The details are sketchy but it’s the way John uses this word ‘abide’ here that indicates something more than a casual meeting.  They get up close and personal with Jesus like they had never done with anyone else before.  Jesus was not just ‘The Lamb of God’ as John the Baptist had said, but he was very real, very personal, and very relevant for them.  Jesus was the one who knew about their own personal troubles, and weaknesses, and fears, and inevitable death.  Jesus not only understood their inner soul you might say, but Jesus is God and there is no-one better to deal with what bothered them. 

Jesus was the real deal for Andrew and he went and found his brother Simon and told him, “We have found the Messiah – one who really can deal with the things that matter in our lives.  Come and check him out”. The next day Philip did the same and invited Nathanael to “Come and see”.  They were excited; this was extremely good news.  What the Baptist said was not some boring old fact about the messiah that they had learnt at synagogue school but he was talking about a connection, a relationship, the amazing and extraordinary love that God has for each one of us.

It’s easy for us to put Jesus in a box, over there separate from everything else,
keep him with our Sunday best,
bring him out on special occasions,
keep him with our other quaint treasures
and believe that we know who Jesus is. 

On the other hand, some of us have a sense that we are called by God and because we live in a society that looks at results, we get busy.  We get so busy that there is no time for anything or anyone else.

My friends, that’s not abiding in Jesus;
that’s not remaining in him,
that’s not walking with him every day,
that’s not really knowing him as the Lamb of God who loves you – every nasty little bit of you and died on a cross for you because of that love.
When Jesus says, “Follow me”, he is calling us first to himself – to a personal intimacy, to sharing life with him, to spending quality time with him.

We are simply asked to get to know God and Jesus better.
It’s a call to listen,
to seek him first,
to know him better
and to move toward making that relationship the central focus of our lives.
It’s time to listen to what the Lord God is saying.
We need that first.
We need that most.
It was only after this remaining/abiding with Jesus that he gave them things to do.

Today this reading invites us to “Come and see” what John the Baptist and Andrew and Simon and Nathanael and John saw. 
Come and see and remain – abide, get close, get to know, through his Word in the Bible and through others, that Jesus is the one and only who can give you a real future – now and forever.

Jesus invites you to abide, remain, dwell with him.
He invites you into a relationship with him.
He calls each of us to “come and see” and “follow”.

Come and see who truly loves you.

© Pastor Vince Gerhardy

Read by Derryl Huff.

First Sunday of Epiphany.

Mathew’s proclamation about Jesus

Mathew 3: 13-17

This year, many of our Gospel readings will be from Matthew’s Gospel account. Therefore, I thought it is worth highlight a few points to look out for when reading through Matthew.darren2

  Matthew was originally writing for a Jewish audience. For example, Matthew quotes more Jewish or Old Testament scriptures than any other New Testament writer. He assumes his audience will be familiar with these scriptures.

Also, the Jews had such great respect for God’s name that they never said it. Therefore Matthew avoids using the word ‘God’. So where other New Testament writers use the term, ‘Kingdom of God’, Matthew uses the term, ‘Kingdom of Heaven’ – which he does 31 times.

Also, where other writers explain the significance of certain practices and customs of Jewish life, Matthew assumes his audience will know this, and doesn’t always point them out. That’s why, when someone unfamiliar with the bible wants to read about Jesus, Luke’s Gospel account is often a better place to start, unless they happen to be familiar with Jewish practices.

      When studying Matthew’s gospel, at least three main themes stand out.

  1. The Kingdom of Heaven is real and amongst us now.
  2. Jesus is Immanuel – God with us.
  3. Jesus is the long awaited Messiah.

So today, I want to give you a brief overview of these three themes.

Firstly,  the Kingdom of Heaven is already here. Jesus does lots of teaching about the kingdom of Heaven. Matthew records these in 5 long discourses, starting with the Sermon on the Mount in chapters five to seven. These are interspersed with numerous miracles to show that the kingdom of heaven is not some distant reality. It is here and now. Jesus and his kingdom is amongst us today.

The same is true today. Amongst all the havoc of the fires over the last few months are many miracle stories. This week I read one published by the Eternity magazine on Tuesday. 

David Jeffrey owns a B&B at Mallacoota in far East Gippsland. He was one of hundreds, if not thousands of people spending the early hours of New Years’ Day on the Mallacoota wharf. He was initially planning to stay and defend his home. That was until he heard reports of fireballs coming.

David says, “That day the town experienced a miraculous answer to prayer. There is no way that it was all just luck.” Previously an atheist, David has now been a Christian for 25 years.

  The approaching firewall was reported to be 60 feet high and moving at 90 kilometres an hour. David says, “We could hear the roar. It sounded like a thousand freight trains coming at us. Then a huge gust, like someone had opened the door of a furnace, pushed us … It went black as black. The smoke was so thick it was hard to breathe.”

At this point David and many others thought “we were going to die.”

“I prayed, ‘Lord if you don’t push this [fire] back now, we need [wind] from the east.’ As soon as I said that, it started blowing from the east a little bit. Then I got louder and [the wind] got stronger. Then I got louder again and it got stronger again

“I felt it change. I noticed that the bolder I got, the stronger [the wind got]. I was yelling, ‘In Jesus’ name, thank you Lord for rescuing these souls. Push it back Lord, rescue us!’

“I did not care who heard me. I knew then that God was then doing what I was asking. Because if he didn’t answer then, we were dead.”

No easterly wind was forecast. Yet David says, “What God did was push [the fire] back from the east, which was impossible but he did it. He did that for five minutes, which broke [the fire front] enough to stop it from getting to where we were.”

Afterwards, as the smoke started to clear, the crowd at the wharf listened in horror as properties were consumed by fire and gas cylinders exploded.

David says, “The fire wall was getting closer and closer to my house. We were about to lose everything.” Yet he says he was more concerned about his neighbours, who had remained to defend their home, rather than his own property.

“Then I heard God say to me, ‘pray’. I started off with a pathetic little prayer … Then within me, this faith rose up and said ‘who are you praying to?’ And I thought, ‘Yes! You’re the God of the Bible. Nothing’s impossible with you!

“This was so impossible, but somehow God turned off the flames, like flicking off a switch. All the fuel was still there – the houses were still there, the grass was there.

“My neighbours – who are not Christians – were eyewitnesses and they tell me ‘God saved us’. They thought they were going to be annihilated because that fireball was coming straight at them.  But the whole of Vista Drive [their street] got spared and the bush around us got spared. Hot embers went into the dry, long grass, big bits of bark and trees, but where we were praying for, right there, it was all spared …

“There were no burn marks. There is honestly not a blade of grass singed.”

Previously, David has been talking with his neighbour, Chris, about his faith. “Chris and I have been talking about little things to do with Jesus for the past couple of years, but now we’re talking big things.” Since the fire, David has been “explaining [to Chris] what it means to be a disciple of Christ”.

Referring to other neighbours, David says, “They all feel like the prayers saved them … They’ve seen miracles. They’ve seen the supernatural – flames getting pushed back, they’ve seen the embers hit the grass and not burn, without even a singe mark.

“That’s literally Bible stuff – Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego [who were spared from the ‘fiery furnace’ in the biblical book of Daniel … We are in awe of what God’s doing.”

He is hopeful this situation will “help people realise that there is a God and he does love them, that the only safe place is behind that cross.”

But the miracle doesn’t stop there. David has been able to use his B&B property to feed and house police and other emergency services personnel. “Not only did this building not burn to the ground, but now it’s getting used in unbelievable circumstances,” he says. “This building [provides] an opportunity now for love to flow – that’s what I see it as.”

David is determined to ensure that all the glory goes to God. “It’s time for people to rise up and pray. It’s time to get serious about God and get back into reading his word.”

   The kingdom of heaven is real. It is here and now. What’s more it’s not a kingdom of judgement but of love and relationship. Father, Son and Holy Spirit are a community of true love. They invite us into that community of love. More importantly, you don’t have to do anything to earn their love for you.

Imagine an infant lying on the lounge room floor. It can’t do anything except smile, laugh and cry. Yet their parent or grandparent has incredible love for this child. This child can’t do anything to earn that love. The same is true with our heavenly Father. Your Father in Heaven loves you as you are, no matter what. You don’t have to do anything to earn that love.

In today’s Gospel reading, we heard that, at Jesus’ baptism,

a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17, nlt)

At this point Jesus hadn’t actually healed anyone yet. He hadn’t performed any miracles, such as calming a storm, or turning water to wine. We don’t have any of his great teachings. Jesus hadn’t yet died on the cross. Jesus didn’t have to earn the Father’s love. The Father loved him for who he was.

Likewise, You and I also don’t have to try and be good enough to earn the Father’s love. He loves you just as you are. Yet he loves us too much to just leave us that way. He wants to transform our lives through the power of the cross and the freedom that this brings. This is the miracle God wants to perform in your life, here and now. Eternal Life in Jesus is not just for after we die. We have new life in him today.

So that’s the first main theme in Matthew’s Gospel: that the Kingdom of heaven is here and now.

   Last week I actually covered the second theme – that Jesus is Immanuel, meaning ‘God with us’. So I will only cover this very briefly today.

Using a quote from Isaiah 7, the very first chapter of Matthew tells us that Jesus is God with us. When we turn to the last chapter, in fact the very last verse of Matthew, we read

And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. (Matthew 28:20, niv)

During my quiet time on Ascension last year, I compared the different accounts in the Gospels and Acts. The thing I learned, is that Matthew doesn’t mention the ascension at all. He wants us to know that Jesus isn’t just up in heaven. He is also still here on earth with us. He is particularly present for us through his word and in the sacraments.

And finally, Matthew goes to great lengths to point out that Jesus is the long awaited Messiah. This is also true of all the New Testament writers.

As I said at the start, Matthew includes more quotes from Old Testament or Jewish Scriptures than any other New Testament writer. Many of these are in reference to the way Jesus fulfilled the scriptures about the Messiah.

For example, the Messiah would be a descendent of Abraham, and King David. So Matthew starts his gospel with a long genealogy showing Jesus is a descendent of Abraham and David and the other Jewish kings. Now this section often seems long and tedious for us westerners, but for Jews it is critical. There are also some really interesting comments I could make on this, but I don’t have time for today.

What’s also interesting is, if you skip over most of the family line, you are left with the following verses, 

1 This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham:

… and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah.

17 Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah.

18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about … (Matthew 1:1, 16b-18a, niv)

As you can see, in his opening paragraphs, Matthew tells us four times that Jesus is the Messiah. I wonder if there’s something Matthew wants his audience to know from the outset?

The rest of the book gives examples of three groups of people. There are those who declare Jesus is the Messiah, some who aren’t so sure, and others who say he is not the Messiah – he is just a very naughty boy and he deserves to die. Some even change their mind. For example, in today’s reading, just after Jesus’ baptism, John the Baptist was one who witnessed the Father declaring Jesus was his beloved son.    But then in chapter 11 we read that John was sitting in prison and he starts to have doubts. If Jesus is the Messiah, come to set the world right, then why is he in prison for speaking God’s word’s to the king?

[John] sent his disciples to ask him, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?” (Matthew 11:2b-3, niv)

  What’s more, a pivotal moment about half way through Matthew, Mark and Luke’s Gospel accounts is when Peter declares

“You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16, niv)

After this, these accounts all focus on Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Matthew makes it clear that we are also challenged with the same question. Is Jesus the Messiah or not?

More importantly, what does it mean for Jesus to be the Messiah. 

   Like Peter, as disciples of Jesus, Matthew wants us to declare with our words and our lives, that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God. Jesus and his kingdom are not some distant reality. They are here amongst us, alive and well, and can bring transformation to our life today.

Jesus died and rose again to save you and me from the consequence of our sin. He came to overcome death and evil in our lives and give us new life, here, today. May we live the new life Jesus has won for you and me.

Darren Kupke

Second Sunday after Christmas

Immanuel – At Christmas God enters creation Matt 1:23, John 1:14

  Mary Poppins  is a classic children’s movie. I’m sure you have seen, or at least heard of it. Those who have seen it might recall the scene where Bert, the chimney sweep,  draws pictures with coloured chalk on the pavement. The curious thing about this scene, is that Bert, Mary and the two children don’t just sit back and admire his work – they actually jump into the picture. darren2They enter his creation.  They experience the world he has just drawn in all it’s glory, beauty and wonder. They engage and interact with this world in a way that you can never do so by just observing the picture on the pavement. They dance with the penguins and ride the horses from the merry-go-round as they sing – including the famous Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. There are some similarities here to Christmas.  After God created the world, he doesn’t just stand back and watch. He is continuously involved in it. He continues to care for his creation. He continues to provide for you and me. Many have shared stories of how they or their property were miraculously spared in the recent fires. On Boxing Day, our family had an incident on a river that could have ended a lot worse, but we thank God that he was there protecting us, bringing us all to safety.
Yet God doesn’t just intimately care for his creation. God is so involved, that like Bert entered the world he’d drawn, our God enters the world he has made – our world. John says,
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. … the one and only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)
Christmas is about Jesus, not just admiring his creation from a distance, but becoming flesh and blood to enter our world and become one of us.
Now when God came into the world, he could have come as he was. He could have come in some spectacular way.  He could have come like a superhero with special powers. He could have come with all the glory, glitz and glamour of the greatest celebrity of all time. He could have been the richest millionaire, throwing money at everything and anything so he could fix the world and solve all it’s problems.
Now in some respects he did some of this. Somewhat like a superhero, he performed numerous miracles, but that wasn’t his main message. Like a celebrity, there were times that he had a large following, and times that he felt terribly alone. But he didn’t throw money around to fix our problems.  His greatest miracle and his main message was that Jesus died on the cross to fix our greatest problem – the problem of sin in the human heart.
Sin infects our world. It contaminates us, destroying our relationships with each other and with God. It destroys how we see ourselves. It leaves us feeling broken and hurting within.
The only cure for sin, is for someone perfect to die in our place. We need someone to come as our substitute and sacrifice themselves for us. That’s why Jesus came.  So when Jesus entered our world, he actually became one of us. Not just as a fully grown human, but as a little vulnerable baby, born to a humble couple. Jesus is God in the flesh. He looked like you and me. And this wasn’t just a disguise Jesus wore. In Jesus Christ, God actually became one of us. And that means he experienced all there was to experience about humanity. He experienced deep joy and happiness, but also trials, hardship, suffering, death and vulnerability. So vulnerable that so many times he nearly didn’t make it to the cross.
At his birth, Jesus Christ was extremely vulnerable. His mother was pregnant before she was married. So according to their laws, they could have stoned her to death before he was even born. They travelled so far that she could have miscarried along the way.
Then when Jesus was finally born to a young, inexperienced mother, with no family support, the town was so overcrowded that the only accommodation left for them was out in the garage. We often joke about someone sleeping in the dog kennel or the
3 Immanuel – At Christmas God enters creation Matt 1:23, John 1:14
chook house, but Mary, Joseph and Jesus actually did. Not only was Jesus born amongst animals, he was placed in their food bowl. These conditions certainly wouldn’t meet Australian health standards for a newborn infant.
And if this wasn’t enough, the king at the time was jealous. When he heard that a new king had been born, he wanted to get rid of the child. To make sure, King Herod ordered that all children in Bethlehem and surrounds be killed to make sure the child was dead. Talk about being vulnerable.
This is the extent God went to for you, to become one of us. He experienced the joys of life as well as the pain of suffering we experience.  His death was one of the most horrific and tortuous known in history. That’s what God was willing to go through for you and me – so that by trusting in him, you and I don’t need to experience the torture of hell. That’s how much he loves you.
And God continues to love you. Jesus is Immanuel, which means ‘God with us’. Jesus is still with you and me today, walking amongst us and dwelling with us. It might seem hard to find him in this crowded, busy world, filled with many different faiths and beliefs. We often expect God to come in glory, surrounded by angels, bright lights and beautiful music. You certainly wouldn’t expect the king of the world, the God of the universe, to come to us in the dim lights of a stable and the lowly screams of a baby. You wouldn’t expect him to be crowned in thorns and be enthroned on a cross.
Yet he did all that for you and me. He did that because he loves you and wants you to know your sins are forgiven. Christmas is only important because of Easter. You can’t truly believe in the baby at Christmas without trusting in the freedom and forgiveness of the cross.  The place that God promises to be found today is not in spectacular ways, but in a humble book, in ordinary bread and wine. Through the gift of the Holy Spirit, God comes to us today in many ways, but the most certain way is through the bible and the sacraments. That’s why church services, devotions and a healthy prayer-life focus so heavily on the bible.
Now we all know that Christmas is a festive season. But for many, Christmas is also a stressful time. Many financial pressures with Christmas shopping, cost of travelling, and job losses. And when the day finally comes, some family gatherings aren’t so pleasant. Maybe there’s some tension, arguments or even on-going feuds. There is likely some disappointment after an exchange of presents, as well as the reminder of the loss of loved ones. And of course, this year with so many fires, there are many fearing for their lives, their homes, and their families.  When Joseph was worried about his situation, an angel came and told him it was going to be okay. Everything was in God’s hands. Continue with your plans to marry Mary.
And to the fearful shepherds, the angel said, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that for all the people. Today a Savior has been born to you”
I don’t know what you are going through, but whatever your situation, God says to you, ‘Do not be afraid, Jesus knows the stress you are going through, and he wants to take all your worries and anxious thoughts, and fill you instead with his peace and joy.’ (Philippians 4:6) Seek first his kingdom and he will provide all your needs (Matthew 6:33).  Jesus is called “Immanuel” – which means, ‘God is with us’. The loving God is with you! He always has been, and he will continue to walk with you no matter what.
On this, the last Sunday of the Christmas season, may you know true joy, love, hope and peace through Jesus Christ, and may that go with you all throughout this New Year, and on into eternity.

Darren Kukpe.

New Years Day 2020

What’s in a Name?

 

  About 2000 years ago, an eight-day-old baby boy was circumcised according to Jewish law, and was given the name Jesus. What makes this child or his name so special? In our world over 350,000 babies are born every day; that is over 127 million babies born in the world each year.20180311_103505 (1) Many of those babies are circumcised for reasons of religion or custom. Many are presented in churches and temples; they are all given names, and in Israel many are even given the name, Jesus.

Yet this one child—Jesus of Nazareth—has changed the course of history and of many individual lives. He has caused the years to be numbered from the time of his birth; BC—Before Christ, and AD—Anno Domini, the Year of the Lord. While your name or mine might not tell other people much about ourselves, the Name (or names) of Jesus tell us something very significant about his person.

William Shakespeare is known for the famous quote: What’s in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet! That is not true in relation to Jesus. His name is packed with meaning and purpose; and this one referred to in the Scriptures as the ‘Rose of Sharon,’ would by any other name than those given by God, certainly NOT smell as sweet. 

So what is the significance of the Name of Jesus? While many other Hebrew children were given the name Jesus, including the notorious criminal Jesus Barabbas, the name of Jesus of Nazareth was chosen, not by his parents, but by God himself. Luke writes: On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise him, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived (Luke 2:21). You will remember how Matthew records the angel’s instructions: You are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins (Matt.1:21).

The name ‘Jesus’ is a Greek form of the Hebrew name, ‘Joshua’ which means “The Lord Saves”.  How appropriate a name for this child!  Just as Joshua had been chosen to conquer the enemies of Israel and lead them into the Promised Land of Canaan, Jesus had now been chosen to conquer the enemies of the entire human race – sin, death and the devil – and lead his faithful people into the promised land of heaven.

It is not just his common, given name, Jesus which is significant.  Matthew recalls the prophecy of Isaiah: They will call him Immanuel—which means “God with us” (Matthew 1:23). His name describes his nature. This Jesus of Nazareth would be God in human form, true God and true man, living among his people.

Luke tells of another name the angel gave for Jesus: He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High (Luke 1:32). This name also tells us about the nature of Jesus of Nazareth as the Son of God, and fulfils the prophesy of Isaiah: and his name shall be called Wonderful Counsellor, the Almighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6).  This child born to us, this Son given to us is not like the 127 million other babies born each year; he is not like all the other children called Jesus or Joshua. He is the Son of the Most High God (Luke 1:32).

When Jesus was born, the angels gave the shepherds another significant name for this child: Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord (Luke 2:11). The name ‘Christ’ held great significance for the Jews. ‘Christ’ is the Greek form of the Hebrew word ‘Messiah’—meaning ‘The Anointed One’—the long awaited King and Saviour of his people. The angel told Mary: The Lord will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end (Luke 1:33).  Hence this Jesus is distinguished from all others by being referred to as ‘Jesus Christ’ or ‘Christ Jesus.’

When St. Paul wrote to the Philippians he showed how Jesus lived up to each of these names.  He lived up to the name ‘Son of the Most High’ by being in very nature God (Phil 2:6). He lived up to the name ‘Immanuel—God with us’—by taking the very nature of a servant and being made in human likeness (Phil 2:7). He lived up to the name ‘Jesus—The Lord saves’ when he humbled himself and became obedient unto death—even death on a cross (Phil 2:8); and he lived up to the name ‘Christ—the Messiah, the Anointed One’ when God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the Glory of God the Father (Phil 2:9-11). Yes, Jesus is certainly the name above all names!

What does the name of Jesus have to do with us?  John tells us that when we believe in Jesus who is The Christ, the Son of God, we receive ‘life in his name’ (John 20:31). The name of Jesus saves those who trust in it because to believe in the name of Jesus is to believe in the person of Jesus and everything he is for us. Early Christians developed the symbol of the fish because the first letter of each Greek word in the sentence “Jesus Christ, Son of God and Saviour” spelt out the word ‘ichthus’ [pronounced ick-thus] the Greek word for fish. This confessed who Jesus was.

The apostles declared that “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven, given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

When the Jews asked the disciples on the Day of Pentecost, “What shall we do?” Peter replied, “Repent and be baptised, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins” (Acts 2:37, 38). When we are baptised in the name of Jesus we are given the name and nature of Christ as a personal gift for our forgiveness and eternal salvation.  We are referred to as CHRISTians. 

Scripture tells us that when we are baptised in the name of the ‘Son of the Most High’, we also become sons of the Most High God (Gal 3:26). The ‘Immanuel – God with us’ now becomes ‘Christ in us’’ (Gal. 2:20).  ‘The Lord saves’ us by joining us to his dying and rising (Rom 6:3-5).  Christ, The Messiah King gives us the power to join him, seated at his Father’s right hand in glory (Eph. 1:19-23). Such is the power of this name!

So as we enter a new year, what are we to do with the name of Jesus? Jesus’ name cops quite a bashing in today’s society. It is used commonly in cursing and swearing. Next time you hear it used that way, ask the person who says it: “Do you know who you are talking about?” You may get some interesting reactions. The name of Christ is being removed from State Schools and from prayers at all levels of government. We hear the name of Christ and the people who bear his name demeaned in the media. We Christians can even bring disgrace to the name that we bear by failing to live like ‘little Christs’ in the world or by failing to call upon the Lord’s name in prayer, praise and thanksgiving.

God calls us to live as ‘bearers’ of his name, honouring his name, believing in it, calling upon his name in worship, praying to the Father in Jesus’ name and praising his name forever. Luther encouraged us to begin each day by making the sign of the cross and repeating the name in which we were baptised.  All these things are involved in the words we pray in the Lord’s Prayer, “Hallowed be your Name”. We are acknowledging the holiness of all God’s names—including Jesus—and asking that we may keep them holy in speech, in life and in teaching.

So, “what’s in a name?” Let’s never forget that the name given to a Hebrew baby over 2000 years ago and engraved on our lives by baptism and faith is our most precious possession. A rose by any other name would certainly NOT smell as sweet!  Amen!

 

And may the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

First Sunday after Christmas.

Luke2:10-20

Keeping the joy alive

What do you do when you hear news of a new baby being born? Do we simply return to what you were doing before, as if nothing happened? Or do we stop what we are doing and take a moment to appreciate this new life?darren2 Often, we become so excited that we want to spread the word and share the news with others? This is especially true if this new child is part of our family, or we know the family personally. Perhaps we may be so excited that we can’t wait to meet this new child or see photos of the new bub.

In many cases in our culture, once a healthy baby is born, the father is the first person to spread the good news. Often, he has been there with the mother at the birth of the child. Then, while the mother gets some rest, dad starts telling the world about the exciting news. He might go and tell them in person. He might go and make a phone call. These days dad might send a text message or post it on social media. He often starts with his family and friends, and they spread the news further afield to their friends. The family and close friends then often make eager plans to meet the child. Many are so eager to see the new bub face to face, that they can’t wait. They might suddenly take time off work to travel to see this new child and their family.

 It’s amazing what lengths people will go to share the good news and excitement. I remember one father relating his experience. It was about 15 years ago that his daughter was born. Mobile phones were still fairly new, and he didn’t have all the phone numbers with him. So his daughter was born, he went home to make some phone calls. The problem is, when he got home, the landline wasn’t working. By this time it was 10pm … but he couldn’t wait until morning. So he picked up his mobile phone and his contact list, ready to dial some numbers. But the phone signal in that town wasn’t very unreliable at that time. So there he was, on top of the cubby house, in the cold and dark, ringing the family with the good news.

There are some parallels here with the birth of Jesus. Once Jesus is born, his Father is so excited that he wants to tell the world. He starts by sharing the good news and excitement with the angels.  The angels then spread the news and excitement further afield. And in that field were some shepherds, sitting outside in the dark, keeping watch over their flocks. 

“Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. 11 The Saviour—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David!” (Luke 2:10-11, nlt)

15 When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” (Luke 2:15, nlt)

The angels spread the good news and the excitement. The shepherds responded by taking time off work to go visit the infant saviour and his family.

The shepherds then shared the good news and excitement with others. 

the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. 18 All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished (Luke 2:17-18, nlt)

And so, the good news and excitement was spread throughout the land. It continued to be told until even we have heard of the birth of Jesus, our saviour and Lord.

But this isn’t just an ordinary baby. Christmas is only worth celebrating because of Easter. What’s special about Jesus is that he saves us! Not just from our sins. Jesus also saves us from the burden of guilt, shame and regrets.  We can leave all these at the cross. And we can walk away with peace, freedom and new life. In Jesus we can have a fresh start. We can live differently because we have new life in Jesus.

But news often only seems to be discussed when it is new. When some other big news comes along, people quickly forget the old news. We stop talking about the transformation we have discovered, like a fad that has run its course. The old news is out and we start raving about the latest piece of news.

The same can happen with the freedom and life we have in Jesus. We can forget the difference he makes. It can be taken for granted.

The challenge for us then becomes,  how do we keep the good news of Jesus – born for you and me – fresh in our hearts and minds? How do we remain excited by this news that we may have heard time and time again.

Our Gospel reading suggests two things that can keep this news fresh for us. Firstly is Mary’s response. 

19 but Mary kept [/treasured] all these things in her heart and thought about them often. (Luke 2:19, nlt)

Over time our enthusiasm and excitement can wane. As humans we can quickly forget. We need continual reminders of the blessings Jesus Christ brings us. We need to hear this good news often. That’s why the church offers services every week. That’s why there are daily devotions and bible reading plans. That’s why bible study groups often meet weekly or fortnightly. So that, like Mary, we can be reminded of the good news and ponder them in our hearts and minds. Over time we learn to treasure this, and even long for the routine to hear again of God’s love for you and me in Jesus Christ.

The second response in today’s reading is that of the shepherds, 

20 The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them. (Luke 2:20, nlt)

The shepherds went back to their regular lives glorifying and praising God. You see we’re not meant to just praise and glorify God on Sunday mornings. We are called to praise him all week in the way we live. Many refer to church services or singing hymns as ‘worship’ or ‘praise’. While that is true, it can distract us from the fact that we are also called to praise, worship and glorify God with the rest of our life too.

The shepherds glorified and praised God for all they had seen and heard. Today we see the Christian community gathered. We see bread and wine. We receive Jesus in Holy Communion and through his word. We hear his words of love and forgiveness for you and me throughout the service. We can return to our lives glorify and praising God for all that we have seen and heard.

The birth of Jesus is Good News for you, me, and the rest of the world. Let’s treasure this good news in our hearts and minds. But let us not keep it to ourselves. Let us encourage each other and the people we see each day with reminders of this good news, so that we don’t forget how important and special this is. And let us glorify and praise God in our lives – with all that we are and all that we do and say. Amen.

Pastor Darren Kupke.