The Text: Mark 6:1-13

 

A young couple had been married for just a few months when they engaged in various conflicts. Neither said aloud what they were thinking – that their marriage was a big mistake. One day she burst into tears calling her husband ‘heartless’ and a ‘cheapskate’. He shouted that he’d rather be a cheapskate than a nag. Then he grasped the car keys on his way out. His parting words were, “That’s it! I’m leaving you!”

But before he could put the car into gear, the passenger door flew open, and his wife sat on the seat beside him. “And just where do you think you’re going?” he asked. She replied, giving an answer that would decide the direction of their lives for the next 43 years: “If you’re leaving me, I’m going with you.”

This story of conflict had a happy ending. As often is the case, conflict resolved can result in a closer and stronger relationship between people. In today’s Gospel we see conflict happening between the most unlikely of people, the folk of Jesus’ hometown of Nazareth. Jesus was no doubt looking forward to being there and receiving the same warm reception he’d received elsewhere. The folk Jesus had grown up with thought they knew Jesus really well as the son Mary and Joseph the carpenter. As a carpenter Jesus would have had the skills to make doors, furniture, and oxen yokes. While a carpenter’s work was much appreciated, they weren’t given the respect given to religious leaders like rabbis. The townspeople were also familiar with Jesus’ brothers and sisters.

Now when they hear Jesus speaking so profoundly in their own synagogue, they wonder what this local ‘lad’ is up to. How can this man they’ve known since he was a toddler have such understanding and wisdom about the things of God? He never studied under any rabbi; he’s a carpenter. If he were the Messiah, he would be of noble origins and in glorious attire. Jesus didn’t match with their preconceived ideas of what the Messiah would look like. So, where Jesus least expects it, he experiences sarcasm, rejection, and conflict. He knows firsthand what it’s like when we too experience conflict with those close to us and feel wounded by the sarcasm of our opponents.

Jesus responds to their rejection and dismissal of him: “Only in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honour.” Jesus didn’t demand to be honoured by his hometown residents. Rather, he was seeking to sow the seeds of faith for the future. Nevertheless, he was amazed at their lack of faith. They were too locked into their pet views about religion to want to learn new truths and insights from Jesus.

The greatest hindrance to a deeper appreciation of what Jesus means for us today is a feeling of familiarity with his life and teaching. When it has been suggested to men and women, who see themselves as “reasonably good Christians” that they could benefit from a deeper examination of what the New Testament says about Jesus, they give the impression that they know all they need to know about our Savour already. Those who, on the other hand, regularly study the Scriptures, will tell you with never-ending excitement of the new discoveries they’ve found about Jesus that deepen their devotion to him and increase their eagerness to put his teaching into practice throughout the week.

Our Lord’s unique contribution to us growing in moral integrity is himself. Jesus himself moves us to put into practice what he teaches us. He inspires a love that continually delights to show his love to others. Jesus’ words of love are life-giving and liberating. He says to us, “If you make my words your home you will know the truth and the truth will set you free (John 8:31).” Jesus himself is the centre of his message of good news to us.

After being rejected in Nazareth, Jesus didn’t let that painful result hinder his ongoing mission work in any way but went on to teach in other villages where he was warmly received. Many of our great leaders have had great difficulty dealing with ordinary people. Not so with Jesus. Our Lord found the workday environment of ordinary folk immensely attractive. He is unsurpassed in his ability to identity with ordinary people, as we can see from his parables. His parables are full of the details of daily life, but with a twist. Jesus reversed existing values: the last is now first, those who are the humblest are often the wisest, and the lowliest servant is the greatest citizen in Christ’s Kingdom, while a despised Samaritan is held up as an example of how we’re to treat a needy neighbour.

Throughout the Gospels, Jesus stopped to listen to and help needy individuals. He is deeply affected by those who need his unique help, and praises faith wherever he sees it in action. It is faith in him, above all, that Jesus seeks from us. Where faith is alive and active, marvellous things can occur. Faith opens the door to unmerited, unearned blessings to us from our Lord. To say to Jesus, “I believe, help my lack of faith (Mark 9:24)” is to ask him to do more for us than we can believe. It’s a request Jesus loves to respond to. Our Lord delights in drawing close to those for whom faith is a struggle.

We don’t need to understand everything Jesus said and did in order to keep following him. He calls us simply to believe and trust him. We often find Jesus is closer to us when we’re depressed rather than when every thing’s going well. May we come to him as soon as we can when life is a burden as he invites us to: “Come to me, all you who are weary and carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28).” All those who came to Christ in desperate need received from him more, much more than they expected. God grant that you will experience this too so that you can act as Jesus’ ambassadors as did his twelve apostles.

Jesus didn’t let his disappointment in Nazareth hinder his work. Instead, he extended his work by means of his twelve apostles, sending them out two by two, giving them authority over evil spirits to cast them out in his name and to preach his message wherever they’re warmly welcomed. Their casting out of evil spirits authenticates the message they preach. Before this, Jesus had spent time with them preparing them for this specific ministry, and they would continue to learn so much more by putting all they’d previously been taught into practice. Jesus sends them out in the full confidence that their work will be effective. To encourage them, Jesus says to them, “Those who listen to you are hearing me (Luke 10:16).”

Jesus says the same to us today. We are his ambassadors and advocates. The Gospel he’s given to us is too good to keep to ourselves. He is delighted, thrilled, when we take risks for him. We’re not to remain within the safe confines of our church building, but rather to put into practice out in the world, from Monday to Saturday, what we learn here in his house on Sunday. Jesus’ family, who initially rejected him in Nazareth, would come to believe in him after Easter. With our witness, we too sow seeds of faith for a harvest to be reaped in God’s good time in the future.

Whatever we do in Jesus’ name is an extension of his work in our world. Remember, whatever you do for our Lord is never in vain but will bear fruit for eternity. Henry Benjamin Whipple once said:

“All we want in Christ; we shall find in Christ.

If we want little, we shall find little.

If we want much, we shall find much.

But if, in utter helplessness, we cast our all on Christ, he will be to us the whole treasury of God.”

May you enjoy learning more and more about Jesus as long as you live and take great joy in putting what you learn into practice, for it is Jesus who is at work in you, and through you. Amen.

The Grace and Peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.  Paul records in

2^nd Corinthians, ‘if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone,

the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ.’

Let us pray:  O God our Father, we thank you that by faith in your son, we are in Christ, and are renewed each day by the work of your Holy Spirit.  Open our hearts and minds to receive all that you have for us today.  We pray in Jesus’ name.Amen.

Psalm 92 encourages us with the words, ‘It is good to praise the LORD and make music to your name, O Most High.      For you make us glad by your deeds, O LORD; we sing for joy at the works of your hands.’   

What great words to describe the joy of worshipping our God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit with passion.

One Pastor, Steve Shepherd, relates a story he overheard:  ‘A good Pastor, of the staid and orthodox type, had a passionate older woman in his congregation who was in the habit of saying, “Praise the Lord,” “Amen,” when anything particularly helpful was said.

This practice began to disturb the Pastor, and one New Year’s day he went to see her. “Betty,” he said, “I will make a bargain with you. You call out, ‘Praise the Lord’ just when I get to the best part of my sermon and it upsets my thoughts. Now if you will stop doing it all this year, I will give you a pair of nice warm woolen blankets.”

Betty was poor, and the offer of the blankets sounded good. So she did her best to earn them. Sunday after Sunday she kept quiet. But one day a pastor came to preach who was bubbling over with joy.

As he preached on the forgiveness of sin and all the blessings that follow, the vision of the blankets began to fade and fade, and the joys of salvation grew brighter and brighter. At last Betty could stand it no longer and jumping up she cried, “Blankets or no blankets, Hallelujah!” “Praise the Lord!”  “Amen!”

(From a sermon by Steve Shepherd, A Trustworthy Saying, 11/13/2010)

I can imagine that the bubbly Pastor was preaching on the sentiments we have today from Paul’s 2^nd Letter to the Church at Corinth. ‘Christ’s love compels us to live the faith we have in Christ, because we are convinced that Christ died for all, and  was raised again.’   

Just so we can see each other from a different regard than the world sees us.  As we praise the Lord Jesus Christ, we can feel our hearts sing together, and see the light of Christ in each other’s eyes.  And even more, we can look at the world all around us from a different regard.  With hearts of compassion and understanding, rather than judgement and suspicion.

St Mark, the Evangelist, tells us that Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables, but explained things to his disciples. I suspect that this would set the stage for the Apostles and Disciples to make plain the plan of God for all people. Exhibiting the same hearts of compassion and understanding. 

Every time we approach the people in our share of the world with our attitudes, actions and words cultivated by the Holy Spirit, we become living parables of God’s love.  It is my prayer that we nurture the seeds that the Holy Spirit sows in our spirits. 

In the parable described by Mark, we find  ” the kingdom of God” being described as a field scattered with seeds.  “ All by itself the soil produces grain… As soon as the grain is ripe, the sower puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”

But, in reality, ‘neither the sower or the earth  actually produce growth “by itself”. The plant owes its growth to the power of God, who both creates and sustains the natural order.’  In the same way, spiritual growth is similarly the result of God’s Word and Spirit, not the speaker or hearer. But we do need to pay attention to what seeds we sow.

^{(Engelbrecht, E. A. (2009). The Lutheran Study Bible (p. 1663). St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House.}

Some time ago “Reader’s Digest” shared the story about a company who mailed out some special advertising business post cards with a couple of mustard seeds glued to it.  A caption was printed on the card that went something like this: “If you have faith in our product as small as this mustard seed, you are guaranteed to get excellent results and be totally satisfied.” — Signed, The Management.

A few months later one recipient of this promotional piece wrote back to the company and said, “You will be very interested to know that I planted the mustard seeds you sent on your advertising card and they have grown into a very healthy vine producing wonderful tomatoes!”

(From a sermon by Terry Blankenship, Kingdom Building God’s Way, 5/16/2011)

Sometimes we grow things we didn’t expect, because we plant that wrong seeds.    We are being called to ‘Grow, and Go, and Administer’ for Christ Jesus, in the small things we do here in Port Macquarie.  I suggest we can be reminded to scatter seeds of compassion and care among our neighbours that will be cultivated and nourished by God’s Holy Spirit.  ‘Night and day, whether we sleep or get up, even when we cannot figure out how that happens.  We can trust God to bring the harvest.’

But we can also be intentional, praising God and offering the blessings of God to those we meet. As the Lord spoke through Ezekiel:  ‘“This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will take a shoot from the very top of a cedar and plant it; I will break off a tender sprig from its topmost shoots and plant it.”’  Ezekiel shared that God was speaking words of comfort to Israel that a return from captivity was imminent.  But also a prophecy of the forthcoming incarnation of that tender shoot from the very top of the ceder that we recognize is Christ Jesus,  Even so, we can also recognize that it is no accident we are here in our place and time, planted by God our Father.   

As in the parable, God’s kingdom grows mysteriously of itself, at its own pace, in the power of the Holy Spirit, through Word and Sacrament.  We may become frustrated at times with the cycles and seasons we see around us. But, like the precious farmers that fill our tables with fine food, we can be patient, trusting God’s blessings.

God’s kingdom grows according to His plan and timetable. And it is a great blessing that things ultimately depend on Him and not us, for only God our Father, is able to bring home a great harvest for life eternal, through the sacrifice of his Son our Lord Jesus Christ and through the leading of the Holy Spirit.  So, let’s just praise the Lord, like Betty.

And let us pray: O God our Father, give us hearts that understand your love demonstrated  in Christ Jesus, your Son.  Hearts that accept your forgiveness, hearts that respond to your kindness and grace with fresh love for one another.  Hearts that are renewed by the Holy Spirit to show kindness toward others.  Life together filled with the joy of our salvation, through Christ our Lord. Amen. 

As we honour the wondrous creator of every heart, may the grace and peace of God keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, the Saviour of all.

Rev. David Thompson.

The Text: Mark 3:20-35 

 

Let me introduce you to an American man named Bob Bassler. He is an Evangelist.

He describes himself as a born-again Christian who fell into sin.

His story goes like this:

When he was 12 years old, Bob Bassler made a new friend and the two soon developed a strong bond. It would be a friendship that would have a huge impact on Bob’s life, for the father of Bob’s friend was a high ranking leader of the Detroit Mafia, and it wasn’t long before Bob was in the grip of their influence. He soon became fascinated with the Mafia underworld, which Satan used to keep Bob prisoner in the spiritual underworld. Bob became well known as a man of power in all the strip joints and on the streets. He formed a cocaine habit and soon began dealing to fund his habit, selling up to 100 ounces a week, at $2,000 an ounce. He was making a killing…literally—destroying the lives of those he dealt to as well as his own, having overdosed five times himself.

The police put a sting operation on Bob. One day he was pursued after leaving a restaurant. After he fled he was caught in a parking lot, just like on TV. Bob was charged over 7 different crimes and sentenced to a combined 150 years in prison. How Bob longed to be a 12 year old boy, and start all over again. When Bob was locked in his cell, freshly painted words on the wall grabbed his attention: “Jesus loves ya!” Bob knew that message was for him. He began to spend time in prayer and Scripture. He started a church in prison. Because of Bob’s exemplary conduct, he was given a letter of commendation from the State, honouring his character, and consequently he served only 2½ years of his original sentence before being released. Afterwards, Bob founded the ministry of New Life Deliverance Centre.

Can you imagine what life would be like if you were trapped like Bob was? Satan tried to devour Bob Bassler. Where would have Bob ended up, if Jesus had not rescued him? Bob said: “I had been empowered by the devil and was well known as a man of power in all the strip joints, on the streets, and in the underworld…The devil was holding me for ransom, but the Lord paid the price and redeemed me. Jesus rescued Bob from the kingdom of darkness, when Bob was helpless to help himself.

Jesus’ authority to deliver people from the grip of Satan is at the centre of the controversy in our text. It’s also at the heart of Mark’s presentation, from the outset, of who Jesus is: the long-promised Saviour who has come into the world. Mark recounts how Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time has come, and the kingdom of God is near” (that is to say, the reign of God has arrived and is present wherever Jesus is). Indeed the gospel is Christ, flesh and bones, standing among people with complete divine rescue and help. We see this in the earliest stages of Jesus’ ministry in Mark’s Gospel. Jesus and his disciples went to Capernaum and on the Sabbath Jesus enters the synagogue to teach, and calls an unclean spirit out of a man in their midst. They were all were all amazed and said: “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” That evening at sundown they brought to Jesus all who were sick or oppressed by demons. And the whole city was gathered together at the door. And he healed many who were sick with various diseases.

Jesus has been on a pretty successful preaching tour in which he’s not only proclaimed that the Kingdom of God is near but has also reigned over sickness and evil. His fame has spread throughout the region and he has caused such a sensation that crowds of people want to see him, jostling to catch a glimpse of who this Jesus is, so that when Jesus and his disciples enter a house they are not even able to eat. Some of those with Jesus start to think he has lost it and flipped out, as they said: “He is beside himself.”

Who is this Jesus? Is he out of his mind? The scribes coming down from Jerusalem make a far more sinister assertion: “He is possessed by Beelzebub. By the chief of demons He casts out the demons.” They recognise Jesus’ supernatural power but believe he is able to cast out demons because he is working for Satan and drawing power from him. They are in effect saying that Jesus is so far from being the Messiah that he is in league with Satan himself. They contend that Jesus is not the holy Son of God who bestows Divine saving help, rather they have rejected him as evil and impure. They have rejected the Holy Spirit’s guiding them into the truth about Christ, which is why Jesus says: Truly, I say to you that all the sins and blasphemies by the sons of men will be forgiven them, as much as they have blasphemed. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit does not have forgiveness but is guilty of an eternal sin” (verses 28-29).

Jesus explains it is not by Satan’s power that he does what he does. Why would the devil allow his power to be used against his own forces? An attack on any part of Satan’s domain is not a sign of collusion with him but a threat to his power. Jesus says: “If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom is not able to stand. If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. So how could he be working for Satan? How can Satan cast out Satan? “If Satan opposes himself and has been divided, he is not able to stand but his end has come. But no one is able to enter the house of the strong man and rob him of his possessions unless he first binds the strong man; then he will plunder his house.”

The exorcisms that Jesus performs shows that Satan’s kingdom is under attack, not internally, but from outside: the reign of God in Christ. Jesus’ power and authority over illness and frailty has shown that he is one with his Father as the author and sustainer of his created world, revealing his power and authority also over sickness and suffering’s end point—to even bring about a new creation by bringing life out of death. Now the exorcisms that Jesus performs shows that his power and authority extends over even the kingdom of darkness itself, to rescue sinners from Satan’s grip.

Perhaps in today’s day and age it might seem that Jesus is anything but in control. It seems that it is usually evil that rages out of control. We live in a society where crowds do not flock to Jesus, and do not want to come to him and hear him. It often seems like evil is the victor and perhaps even has the upper hand on the church, which is so fiercely persecuted in some places, or suppressed in others, or it’s buildings simply crumble and close. But it is Satan’s kingdom that is unable to stand. Not because of any internal unrest, but because Jesus has destroyed its power. Jesus’ exorcisms in Mark’s Gospel point ahead to the Kingdom of God reigning over Satan by Christ’s death on the Cross. That’s why the Apostle Paul says: “Having disarmed the powers and authorities, Jesus made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the Cross” (Colossians 2:15).

We were all trapped like Bob Bassler was. But Jesus plundered Satan’s house when he died on the Cross and redeemed the whole world by his holy and precious blood. Paul says in Colossians 1:13: “He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

Since that time, God brings the redemption he won for the world to people personally in baptism. That’s why in the rite of baptism we say: “until Christ claims us in baptism through his Holy Spirit, we are under the power of the devil. Therefore I say: Depart, you unclean spirit, and make way for the Holy Spirit.” It is Satan who is the strong man but Jesus, who is far stronger, entered Satan’s house, bound him, and rescued you, so that now you belong to God, joined to Jesus.

It was in our baptism that your heart was sprinkled and made new, regenerated by the Holy Spirit so that we are able to trust God’s word are therefore justified by faith, so that the benefits of Jesus’ saving work on the Cross and empty tomb become part of our life.

In this sense, every baptism is an exorcism. Every baptism is a rescue. The devil’s hold over us has been broken. But we are more than freed slaves. Jesus has given us a new identity. He has brought us into his Kingdom as his own siblings, and therefore, the Father’s own dear children, so that with Jesus, we can pray to his Father: “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” As Luther explains, when we pray those words “We ask in this prayer that God would watch over us and keep us so that the devil, the world, and our sinful self may not deceive us and draw us into false belief, despair, and other great and shameful sins. And we pray that even though we are so tempted we may still win the final victory and that our heavenly Father would save us from every evil to body and soul and at our last hour would mercifully take us from the troubles of this world to himself in heaven.”

The church is God’s. It is his and he builds it by calling people to Christ through the Gospel, and sending his Spirit to enlighten people in truth and create saving faith in their hearts, so that, like Luther, and Bob Bassler, we might make a difference as a child of God to those around us.

As the host of the Lord’s Supper, Jesus nourishes us by serving us his very own holy body and blood, to bring to all those who receive in faith that which they believe—the benefits of Jesus’ death and resurrection: forgiveness, life and salvation. In this foretaste of the victory feast to come, Jesus assures us that there is no person, circumstance, force of nature, or even the devil himself, which can ever separate us from God’s love in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Every time we eat and drink at the Lord’s Table we proclaim that his Kingdom cannot fail, and it will have no end—for we proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. Amen.

The Text: Matthew 25: 31-34

³¹ “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 

³² All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

³⁴ “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.

Let us pray:

Open our ears, O Lord,
to hear your word and know your voice.
Speak to our hearts and strengthen our wills,
that we may serve you today/now and always. Amen

The Sheep and the Goats.

What is the difference between a sheep and a goat? According to animal behavioural researchers about 50 IQ points – in favour of the sheep!

That is what is stated on a website called “Sheep 101” – with a name like that, one could guess the answer is biased towards the sheep!

It’s not hard for us to tell the difference between sheep and goats, but in Palestine it was not that easy to tell the difference between sheep and goats – only the shepherd would know.

Just in case you can’t, the website says:

Sheep have thick curly horns; goats have long narrow horns.

Sheep need to be shorn, goats don’t.

Some goats have beards.

Sheep’s tail’s hang down, but goats don’t.

Sheep tend to graze, goats browse.

Sheep hang around together more than goats.

Goats smell more and are more likely to have lice than sheep.

Sheep can be led once they know and trust their shepherd, but goats have to be driven.

Goats are very destructive, sheep aren’t.

So, separating sheep from goats is pretty simple really. Or is it….?

Today is the last Sunday of the church year on the church calendar and today is known as the Day of Fulfillment.

When we think of fulfillment we may think of completion, a promise that is made and kept, a job that was started that is now finished.

It always gives me great satisfaction to see a project completed – to see plans fulfilled and turned into reality.

When we think of God’s plan for mankinds salvation, we see that God has fulfilled his promise to the people of old by sending his Son Jesus to be the Saviour of all.

In the life death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus many Old Testament promises were fulfilled.  

For example, in the Old Testament book of Isaiah the Lord said through the Prophet that “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel—which means ‘God with us.’”

This prophecy was fulfilled when the Virgin Mary gave birth to Jesus.

God fulfills his promises. He has in the past and he will in the future.

There are so many promises that God makes in his word.

To those who put their faith in Jesus God promises an abundant life—life to the full.

He promises a heavenly home.

He promises eternal life.

He promises answers to prayer and deliverance.

He promises us the gifts of the Spirit: growth and fruitfulness.

He promises us his protecting care, guidance, hope, peace and joy.

He promises us an inheritance with all the saints.

He promises to strengthen us for His service and he also promises us rest.

The list of God’s promises goes on and on, and God will fulfill his promises to us.

In our creed we confess that Jesus will come again to Judge the living and the dead, we trust absolutely that God will fulfill this promise.

Verses 31-33 of our gospel says:“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory.

All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.  

He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left this judgment will be the ultimate fulfillment of God’s promises.

So how will God judge us?

The reality is that each of us faces judgment.

We shudder at the thought of God judging us because we know that we haven’t lived up to God’s standards.

We may want to do the right thing, but so often what we want to do and what we actually do are two different things.

That’s what makes the idea of a final judgment so scary.

We are afraid that on the basis of our record we won’t hear words of blessing and a welcome into heaven.

We are afraid that Jesus will say, “Away from me, you that are under God’s curse!

Away to the eternal fire which has been prepared for the Devil and his angels!”

If it were up to us to present a case in God’s courtroom why we deserve to be “called blessed and possess the kingdom which has been prepared for us since the creation of the world” we would fail miserably.

But there is good news!

Jesus is not only the king and judge, but he is our Saviour.

We believe and trust that he died on the cross to clear us from any accusation that will come up on the last day.

His death wiped away all guilt for the good we fail to do.

Remember, Jesus died to save us.

He has ensured us that those who trust in him will not die, but have eternal life.

If our eternal future depended on the good things we did in this life, then we would be doomed for sure.

Every good thing we do is covered with our own selfishness and pride.

Thank God that our eternal future rests solely on Jesus who saves us.

This parable gives us a good picture of what genuine faith looks like.

A genuine faith will show itself in acts of love towards others.

People who have faith in Jesus will see to it that those who are hungry, thirsty, a stranger, poor, sick, or in prison have their needs met.

They understand that to help such people is what their faith is all about.

Those without genuine faith say: “Yes I believe in Jesus” and then do nothing.

Showing love toward others and taking care of their needs is the way faith in Jesus is put into action.

Did you notice how surprised the faithful people were when told that they had been so caring toward others?

“When did we do that? When did we see you hungry, thirsty, a stranger, naked, sick or in prison?”  

Faith naturally demonstrates itself in acts of love meeting the needs of those in need.

It’s as natural as an apple tree producing apples or a tomato plant producing tomatoes.

Faith gives food to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, clothing to the naked, welcome to the stranger, company to the sick and imprisoned, without being told, without thinking about it.

That’s how faith in Christ bears much fruit.

The parable leaves us asking.

Am I a sheep or a goat?

Am I on the right or the left?

The answer now is “yes”.

Our sin tells us we are undeniably goats by nature.

Our faith does not show itself the way God would like me to show it.

We have neglected the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick and the imprisoned.

Our faith has not been demonstrated in our daily life.

On the other hand, we are sheep.

Our Baptism brings us into Shepherd’s flock.

We are loved dearly by Jesus who gave his life to rescue us.

We are his forgiven sheep to whom he says, “Come, you that are blessed by my Father! Come and possess the kingdom.”

Without Jesus we are condemned as goats, but with Jesus we are blessed. Today – ‘Fulfillment Sunday’ – we look forward to the day when God’s grace at work in our lives is fulfilled.

As we continue to wait for that day may we live by faith, continue to nurture faith through the God’s gift of his word and sacraments and may our faith in Christ show itself in the way we care for those in need.

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

Amen.

The Text: Matthew 25:1-13

 

Anyone who goes shopping at this time of year will know that Christmas is just around the corner. Decorations are out, gifts are being bought and all those delicious Christmas treats are probably tempting us to start our Christmas celebrations already.

Christian churches which follow a liturgical calendar dedicate the four Sundays before Christmas to prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus in the season of Advent. The readings for the Sundays leading up to Advent have a focus on Jesus’ promise to come back at the end of time to complete his work of redeeming the world. When Jesus returns, evil will be overcome once and for all and creation will be restored to the way God intended it in the beginning.

Jesus’ teachings about his return from Matthew 25 is part of a longer section of Matthew’s gospel which began in chapter 24, when his disciples asked Jesus about the end of the world. Jesus concluded his teaching with three parables: the ten bridesmaids or virgins, the three servants, and the final judgment between the sheep and the goats. Today we will begin by looking at Jesus’ Parable of the Ten Bridesmaids in Matthew 25:1-13.

It’s possible to read this parable and think that Jesus must have made a mistake. As children, many of us might have been taught that it’s always good to share, so we can easily think that the bridesmaids who didn’t share their oil with those whose oil ran out must not have been good Christians.

This parable isn’t actually about sharing what we have with others. Instead, one way we can understand this parable is that it is about whether we think about our salvation in the short- or long-term.

The five ‘foolish’ bridesmaids who didn’t bring extra oil were thinking short-term. They had received and accepted the invitation to participate in the Kingdom of Heaven, which Jesus describes here as a wedding feast. However, these girls are like people going on a camping trip who don’t take spare batteries for their torches. You never know when your old batteries will run out, so it would make sense to take spares, just in case. These girls weren’t expecting to wait so long for the bridegroom, so they didn’t take spare batteries. When he eventually turned up to take them into the eternal wedding feast, they weren’t able to greet him because they are busy looking for more to keep their lights going. The result of their short-term thinking was that they were locked out of the party.

On the other hand, the five ‘wise’ girls who took extra oil with them were thinking longer-term. They were so joyful about being invited to the wedding feast that they wanted to be prepared. They wanted to make sure they got in. They took extra oil with them just in case the bridegroom was late, so they wouldn’t miss out on the party. Because these girls wanted to be ready for his arrival, they thought about the future, prepared for what might happen, took extra supplies and were ready when the bridegroom arrived.

One message that comes through in all three parables in this chapter is that not everyone makes it into the celebration. A lot of people can think that a loving and forgiving God would never exclude anyone from an eternity with him. The good news of Jesus tells us that everyone is welcome to be part of God’s Kingdom.

However, these parables, as well as other teachings of Jesus, tell us that not everyone makes it. Remember, all ten of these girls were invited to the wedding reception. The five who eventually made it into the feast were those who were prepared and ready when the bridegroom arrived. Those who weren’t ready for him missed out. That wasn’t the bridegroom’s fault. He had done everything he could so they would be able to come. They didn’t make it in because they weren’t prepared. The message Jesus is giving us is that everyone’s welcome, but if we’re not ready for him when he returns, then we are the ones who are responsible.

So how do we prepare for Jesus’ return? We start just by thinking beyond the here-and-now and getting ready for Jesus’ return. It is easy for us to get caught up in everyday concerns, pressures and problems. However, in this parable we can hear Jesus telling us to lift our attention beyond the here-and-now and keep in mind that he will return one day.

In one way, that means working out our salvation now. We can get so focussed on the here-and-now that our spiritual lives can slip. The busyness, pressures and demands of life can mean that we don’t prioritize spiritual disciplines like worshipping with our Christian family, listening to God in his word and talking with him in prayer. One way we prepare for the coming of Jesus is to remain constant in worship, in reading our Bibles, in prayer, and in meeting with other Christians. When we practice these disciplines, the Holy Spirit keeps our spiritual tanks full so our lights can burn brightly in faith and in love.

Another way we can prepare for the return of Jesus is to view our lives now through the lens of what is to come. Life as we know it now will not last forever, even thought it might seem like there is no way through the struggles, pains or difficulties that we experience in this world. In this parable Jesus is reminding us that we have something far, far better to look forward to: an eternal wedding reception with ‘the best of meats and the finest of wines’ that Isaiah 25:6 describes in perfect fellowship with God and his people. We prepare for Jesus’ return by living in the faith that this is our future, our eternal destiny. We will still have struggles, difficulties and suffering in this life, but when we see them from an eternal perspective, we can also find the hope and joy we need to get us through.

Are we living as wise or foolish people? Are we so concerned about the here-and-now that we forget about Jesus’ return and the joy he will bring? Or are we looking ahead to when Jesus will come back and welcome us into the eternal wedding reception he promises? As we hear and reflect on these parables from Matthew 25, God wants to prepare us for what is to come, because when Jesus returns, he wants us to join in the celebration he will bring with him—a celebration that will have no end!

And the peace of God which passes all understanding keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

The Grace and Peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with us all.

  The Apostle John received a vision of the saints who gathered at the throne of God our Father, ‘ one of the twenty-four elders asked me, “Who are these who are clothed in white? Where do they come from?”  And I said to him, “Sir, you are the one who knows.” Then he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb and made them white. That is why they are standing in front of the throne of God, serving him day and night in his Temple. ‘

Let’s join in a word of prayer: Loving Father, as we worship you, our thoughts are drawn today to the saints in our lives, and the saints in the world who are being persecuted for their faith in your Son our Lord Jesus Christ.  Help us understand your plan for our lives, and rejoice over the presence of your Holy Spirit who makes real the faith you put into our hearts. Gracious heavenly Father, hear our prayer for the sake of our risen Lord,  Amen.

We are blessed to be living in Australia.     A nation that treasures freedom.  A nation that honours diversity.  A nation that supports the downtrodden.  A nation that welcomes the refugee.  If is my fervent prayer that Australia will always be this way.  But we know the world changes over time.  It isn’t the same today as it was in the days of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, or Christ Jesus. 

In the days of Adam, trust in God was broken when Adam and Eve determine to become like God.  Yet God cared for them and clothed them.

In the days of Noah, the world was filled with violence, evil, and unfaith, when God saved Noah and his family from annihilation. 

In the days of Abraham, the world was filled with idolatry, when God saw the trust of Abraham and counted it as righteousness to him.

In the days of Moses, the Israelites were held in slavery and persecution, when God heard their cries and sent Moses to free them from Egypt.

In the days of Christ Jesus, the world was held captive to tyrants like that of the Caesars.  It was the right time and the right place for God to intervene once and for all for the salvation of all who would believe in the one whom God sent.  Christ Jesus our Lord and Saviour. 

In his great Sermon on the Mount, our precious Saviour began with words of encouragement and warning.  He spoke of a world that was so different from the one in which he sat and preached.  A world of blessings.  A world where those held captive are given citizenship in the Kingdom of Heaven.  Where those who mourn are comforted.  Where those who express humility before God are given courage before the world.  Where those who yearn for justice and mercy are satisfied.   Where those who seek a right relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ will see God.  And those who live in peace even in the face of persecution are called the children of God, and will share in the Kingdom of Heaven.

What a gift it must have been for those who heard Jesus speak such wonderful words.  Especially as they lived under the domination of Rome.   

But what of today.  When we live under the domination of fear mongers who threaten the world with destruction.  When we live under the threat of world pandemic of Ebola and CoronaVirus.  When we live on the thin edge of world economy that seems to be heading for a meltdown.   What do the beatitudes mean to us today.  Are they just precious words that give us encouragement, or do we receive these words of Jesus Christ as something more.  Perhaps as attitudes that could identify us as Christians and bring us into solidarity with every Christian throughout the world.

But if the be-attitudes show the world who we are, what would the world filled with unbelievers really describe about us?

“Blessed are the meek”, says Jesus, but in our world the meek seem to get left behind in the drive to subdue and inherit the world.

“Blessed are the merciful”, says Jesus, but in our world mercy is seen as weakness by those who strive to achieve by injustice.

 “Blessed are the pure in heart”, says Jesus, but in our world such people are dismissed as hopelessly naïve.

“Blessed are the peacemakers” says Jesus, but in our world those who pursue peace risk having their patriotism called into question.

It seems that most in our beloved Australia live by another set of be-attitudes.  Blessed are the well-educated, for they will get the good jobs.   Blessed are the well-connected, for their aspirations will be noticed.  Blessed are you when you know what you want, and go after it with everything you’ve got, for the rule of this world is for people to help themselves. 

The Beatitudes stand as a daring act of protest against the current order.  If we are honest, we must admit that the world Jesus speaks about is counter-cultural.  But it is a world that God truly blesses.  It is the world of our Spirit.  Where the Holy Spirit turns the world’s be-attitudes to God’s be-attitudes.  Where the Holy Spirit nurtures his fruit of ‘love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.’ ^{(Ga 5:22–23)} 

On All Saints Day, the beatitudes testify that it matters deeply whom we call “saint.”  We cannot expect the world to understand or to accept us.  But we keep our attention on our Lord Jesus Christ.   Because Jesus fulfilled every be-attitude he described in Matthew.   And we can hold onto his words to us, “God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers.  Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven.” 

Today, we remember the saints in our lives who have already received their great reward at the foot of the throne, awaiting the final resurrection.  And we stand in solidarity with all the saints living under the persecution that Jesus describes at the end of the reading from Matthew today.  Especially the Christians in Africa, Syria, Sudan and Iraq. 

Even as we remember and celebrate all the saints today, we also accept the witness to us that we are saints as well as sinners in the world today.  The Gospel and Sacraments in which Christ comes to us speak plainly to us that we are loved, and we are accepted and received by our God in trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  All this by faith in our Saviour, Jesus Christ.  Trust that God lives in each of us. 

And we remember the words of Paul to the Church at Corinth, and to us:

¹⁶  Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are‍‍ being renewed every day. ¹⁷ For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! ¹⁸ So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.

And we cherish the words of John’s first letter, How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. ² Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. ³ Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.

May the grace and peace of God, which passes all our human understanding, keep our hearts and minds in the calm assurance of salvation in our living Lord, Christ Jesus. Amen.

Rev. David Thompson

Text: Matthew 22:19-21
Jesus said, “Show me the coin for paying the tax!”  They brought him the coin, and he asked them, “Whose face and name are these?”  “The Emperor’s”, they answered.  So Jesus said to them, “Well, then, pay to the Emperor what belongs to the Emperor, and pay to God what belongs to God.” 

What shall I do?

A nine year old girl returned from Sunday School and as her father was sitting down with the Sunday Mail after lunch, she asked,
“Daddy, why did God make all the leaves green?”  He thought a moment and replied, “I don’t know.” 
Then she asked, “Daddy, if God made the world and everything else who made God?”  Again he said, “I don’t know.” 
Again she asked, “Daddy, how did Noah catch the two snakes and put them in the ark?”  He put down the newspaper and said with a smile, “Honey, I don’t know.” 

Like many children, this little girl was asking her dad some very important questions.  Dad was right in answering, “I don’t know” because there are certain questions for which we have no answers, at least until that day when we can ask God face to face (and most likely they won’t be important to us any more).

The Pharisees had a question for Jesus.  It’s one about religion and politics.  They asked, “Is it right, according to God’s will, to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”  This was no minor matter.  The Jews were taxed heavily by the Romans – not only were grain, oil and wine taxed but every male from age of fourteen and every female from the age of twelve had to pay a tax for just being alive.  This was a trick question.  Whichever way Jesus answered he would get into trouble. 

If he said, “Yes, it is lawful to pay taxes to the Roman emperor,” he would be in trouble with his own Jewish countrymen who deeply resented the oppression Rome had imposed on their nation.  Paying taxes to the Emperor was tantamount to kneeling at his feet – a posture reserved only for the worship of God.  Clearly, Jesus would be a traitor to his own people and to God, if he answered yes.

On the other hand, if he said, “No, it is not lawful to pay taxes to the Roman emperor,” he would be a traitor to Rome.  Whether they liked it or not, the Roman Empire had now taken control of Palestine. If Jesus spoke against paying taxes, he would be arrested and imprisoned.  Make no mistake about it; the Pharisees were out to get Jesus.

And how does Jesus answer?  He asks for a coin.  “Whose picture is stamped on the coin?  The emperor’s!  Well then it’s simple.  He must own it if he’s got his picture stamped on it.  You give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.  But be careful!  Don’t give to Caesar what belongs to God”.  End of discussion. 

Jesus cleverly states there are those things that belong to the state and those that belong to God. 
Someone summarised Jesus’ words saying, “The coin bears Caesar’s image; man bears God’s image, so give the coin to Caesar” – meaning pay tax – “but give yourself wholly to God.”  Serving God covers all of life.  It also includes serving Caesar in a way that brings honour to God.

In his answer Jesus is giving some broad principles but notice he doesn’t give any slick answers about how we are to carry out this responsibility.  Jesus leaves the details wide open.  He refuses to give two neatly divided lists of duties relating to God and those relating to Caesar that leave no doubt about what we are to do.    (Something that the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law would have liked – they liked rules that were black and white).

However in Jesus’ answer, the question about what belongs to Caesar and what belongs to God remains open.  You and I must decide that for ourselves – struggle with and assess each new situation. 

Making a choice between two options that are appealing, logical and where there are arguments both for and against is not an easy task.  We might wish that there were some black and white guidelines that would make the decision for us.  It is true there may be some general rules, or principles, like the Ten Commandments, or the Sermon on the Mount, that make matters look simple and clear, but when it comes to applying these to the individual circumstance that we are faced with in our lives making a decision isn’t all that clear. 

Why doesn’t Jesus make things so much easier for us?  Why doesn’t he make a decision once and for all in this whole matter of paying taxes and giving to God, and with authority set up percentages and limits, say something about tithing, talk about our responsibility to God, and our responsibility to the government and so on?  We long for a clear ruling, one that is binding, one that will relieve us all the headache of making a decision.  But Jesus doesn’t make the decision for us.  He doesn’t want us to blindly follow a set of rules. 

He challenges us to find out again in each new situation what action we ought to take.
Situations like
whether to reveal to a very sick friend that he/she will soon die or to say nothing;
whether to turn off a life support system or hope for a miracle;
whether to join an IVF program or remain childless;
whether to protest about a government policy or to remain silent;
whether to stay in an unhappy marriage and hope for a change or to get out,
whether to accept this new job or not because of the impact it will have on family life,
whether to be tough on a drug-addicted child or show tenderness, love and support to bring him to his senses. 
Everywhere in life – in our marriage, in visiting the sick, as a teacher in a school, as an executive doing his tax return, as a mother or father – we have to discover what is the will of God for us at this time and in this place and in this set of circumstances.

Often we can’t answer the questions that confront us, by thumbing through the Bible to find crisp, clear answers.  Or referring to an answer found on Schedule C. There is no dictionary we can look up what we have to do here and now to be in tune with the will of God.  Again, the burden of making responsible decisions falls on us. We know how difficult that can be because we are sinners.  We are biased and critical; we prefer to take the easier path; we avoid going against the crowd and simply sidestep making hard choices. 

As Christians we are joined with Jesus and we share in his love and take on his way of looking at the moral dilemmas that challenge us and so for us the issue always is, “What would Jesus do if he were in my situation?”  And sometimes we might not like the answer that we get back. 

You see, Jesus was always shocking people in the choices he made as he reflected the will of his Father. 
When he came across a prostitute, instead of quoting the Ten Commandments to her, he befriended her and said, “Your sins are forgiven”. 
When he met the white-collar cheat Zacchaeus, he loved him and went to dinner with him. 
To those who were exiled from their community because of a dreadful disease, he showed compassion and gave them healing.  The word that summarises Jesus ministry is “love”.

You see God doesn’t give us a list of laws and detailed instructions for carrying them out.  He doesn’t lead us around by the nose in every detail of our lives.  Rather he desires to make us mature sons and daughters, confident of his love, confident of our relationship with Jesus our Saviour and in his love we discover what is the right thing to do that reflects the love of Jesus that is in us.

We need to be diligent in coming to know God’s mind ever better through studying the Scriptures. 
We need to be unceasing in our prayers asking for the Spirit’s guidance.
We need to listen to the prompting of the Spirit as he shows us the way of love in the choices we make.

Some years ago a man talked about the tough decision he and his wife had made when they decided to terminate a pregnancy.  They had three daughters and their unborn child was the son they had wanted so much, however, doctors told them that something was terribly wrong and that if the pregnancy continued the mother’s life was in danger and if the baby survived he would most likely be severely brain damaged. 

The father said something like this, “I had such strong opinions about abortion –   no unborn life should be terminated.  I firmly believed God would always take charge and if the baby was born as a result of rape or was disabled that God would provide a way. 

But now what was God thinking?  This wasn’t fair.  This didn’t fit into any of my ideas.  To think of terminating the life of our son was unbearable.  And the possible death of my wife, June, was just as unbearable.  Our girls needed their mother.  June and I prayed.  We wrestled with the decision.  The doctor, a member of our church, prayed with us.  We decided.  And I don’t know if what we decided was the right thing but our pastor assured us that God knows what was in our hearts and how we wrestled with this situation and if we chose wrongly, his love burns even stronger for us.  It is precisely for the wrong choices we make that Jesus died on the cross.  At the funeral he admitted he didn’t understand God’s ways but he did say that Jesus loved our son as much as we did”.

I’m sure that many of us have made and will make many mistakes as we search for the right answers to many of life’s perplexing problems.  It’s ever so hard at times to know what God wants and to make a decision confidently knowing we have done the right thing. 

We make decisions about some of those tough questions in life in the knowledge that he forgives us when we do blunder and bungle.  It is a comfort to know of the forgiving love of God, otherwise we would be frightened to make any decisions at all.  Let’s remember that God can still bless us through those decisions that are poorly made.

In today’s gospel Jesus doesn’t give us rules but the permission to struggle with the question of what is appropriate for us to do in the world that God created.  Jesus gives us an assignment to seek out the will of God as best we can and go forward entrusting the choices we make into the hands of our loving and forgiving God.

© Pastor Vince Gerhardy

Text:    Matthew 22:1-14 

You’re invited. You’re invited to a celebration. You’re invited to join in God’s great celebration.

People sometimes think that Christian faith is all very sad and solemn. Yes, there is a side of Christian faith that is very deep, that goes to the depths of human experience, beyond the depths of human experience, to the point where God confronts every evil in all its terror.
The cross of Jesus is the stark symbol of the terror and tragedy of human life, of human life turned against its maker and lover.

And yes, there is a side of Christian faith that is all about self-denial, of facing and even embracing hardship and suffering, because comfort and indulgence can become a huge barrier between us and our God.

But at its very heart Christian faith is all about life, wonderful life, life as a gift, as a gift from God, life given a second time, life restored, life saved from death, by the loving forgiveness of Jesus Christ.

If you think about our celebrations, celebrations are all about life. We like to celebrate life, celebrate the special events of life, celebrate the milestones of our lives.

We want to celebrate by coming together, by sharing with other people. We want to capture some of the joy of living, the joy, the deep emotion that bubbles up when you experience the goodness of life. Joy comes from deep within. But joy is multiplied when it is shared.

We want to be able to laugh and smile and sing together. Joy is infectious. We receive joy from one another, and we give joy to one another. When we have something to rejoice about, we want to rejoice together.

And how we will share our joy? How will we celebrate? Somehow most celebrations involve food, good food and drink. Because sharing food is a very practical way of sharing joy.

So we put on a feast, a banquet, a party. Food is something we all need. But when we celebrate we pile on more food than we need. Celebration is more than survival. Celebration is all about a life that is richer and fuller than survival. Celebration is all about sharing the gift of life that is fulfilled and enriched.

Sadly many celebrations today become an excuse for self-indulgence, for drunkenness and abuse and selfishness, which is taking the good things of life and turning them into something selfish and destructive.

Celebration is a true celebration when it embraces the very best of life. Celebration is a true celebration when it gives glory to our God as the giver of life.

The Bible readings for today are all about celebrating the goodness of our God.

The first reading was from the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah has many harsh things to say, because he is talking to a people at a time when they had turned away from God, He has many gloomy things to say, because he warns the people that they will be defeated and life will become very hard. But he points the people to a time when God will rescue them. God will defeat their enemies. God will save the people from their distress.

At the same time, Isaiah is painting a picture of God’s final victory over all evil, of God’s salvation from all misery. He speaks of deliverance and salvation for the whole world:

On this mountain the Lord will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations, he will swallow up death forever. The sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove the disgrace of this people from all the earth. The Lord has spoken.

God will save people from death and he will bring people to his celebration of life:

On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all the peoples, a banquet of aged wine – the best of meats and the finest of wines.

And people will join in the celebration, praising God:

Surely this is our God; we trusted in him and he saved us. This is the Lord, we trusted in him. Let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.

Our psalm today is Psalm 23. You all know it as the Psalm of the Good Shepherd. But did you notice how the psalm ends? With a great celebration!

The Lord who leads us and guides us through life, like a shepherd providing for and protecting his sheep, brings us to a great celebration of his victory:

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head will oil. My cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

We celebrate when we share in the salvation of our God. That is a celebration that we share in now. And a celebration that continues into all eternity.

The second reading takes us to the New Testament, to Paul’s letter to the Christians in Philippi. Of all the letters in the New Testament, this letter to the Philippians has the deepest sense of joy.

We heard it in the reading: Rejoice in the Lord always! I say it again: Rejoice!

Rejoice in the Lord, means rejoice in your relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. You are living in his forgiveness and his salvation. That is the very best reason to rejoice.

Throughout this letter Paul speaks about taking this spirit of joy into every part of your life. Celebrating can be a special time of coming together. Celebration is also an attitude to life.

It is a life of trust and prayer in a spirit of thanksgiving.
It is knowing the peace of God that goes beyond all human understanding.

It is looking for everything that is noble, pure, right good, holy, admirable – focusing on all that is good, on all that comes from God, and building your life around them.

And the Gospel of course is about a wedding celebration. Jesus tells a parable about a wedding banquet. He tells of a man who puts on a wedding banquet for the marriage of his son. He tells of a king who celebrates the marriage of the prince.

The story is obviously a parable about God, and about Jesus Christ as the Son of God.

But why a wedding feast? The people knew weddings as one of the great celebrations of life. In the cycles of life, for two people to come together, to join their lives, to continue the cycle of life, that was a celebration that the whole town would join in and celebrate. It was a celebration that would continue for several days.

The Bible uses the wedding feast as a picture of the celebration between God and his people. Jesus is sometimes called the bridegroom.

If Jesus is the bridegroom, who is the bride? The Bible speaks of the Christian church as the bride of Christ. The Christian church, which is all people who are brought to share this new love of God through the forgiving love of Christ is called the bride of Christ.

Christ loves his bride, and his bride is devoted to Christ. They share a life of wonderful, selfless love and deep, serving devotion.

So now Jesus tells this story of a father who gives a wedding banquet for his son, of a king who puts on a wedding feast for his prince.

But like many of the parables of Jesus, there is a twist.

The father prepares the feast, kills the fatted calf, lays out the tables, decorates the banquet hall. Then he sends his servants to summon the guests, the guests who have already been invited to share in the celebrations.

But they do not want to come. They refuse the invitation.

There seems to be two strands to the story, two different versions that have been brought together.

In the local village version, the guests just cannot be bothered. They have work to do. They are too busy, on their farms or in their businesses. They are preoccupied with what they want to do for themselves. They seem to have no idea of what they are missing out on. So they just ignore the invitation.

In the royal version, the guests turn on the servants, and beat them and kill them. If they refuse to come when they are summoned, their refusal is an act of rebellion against the king. That is why it says that the king was furious, and sent his soldiers to punish their city.

Here Jesus is thinking especially of how the religious leaders of Jerusalem turned against the prophets that God sent, and then turned against Jesus himself. By the time Matthew wrote this Gospel, the city of Jerusalem had been destroyed by the Roman army.

Either way, this parable tells of the goodness of God, providing a banquet, celebrating of the most wonderful life. And the tragedy of people who say: No, we don’t want that life. We don’t want to share your celebration. We don’t belong to you. We will not come and share in your wedding. We will not share in the relationship of joy that is faith in Jesus Christ.

But now there is something totally unexpected.

The father sends the servants out again, out into the streets and the laneways, out to find the people who are poor and struggling. He sends his invitation to people who never, ever thought that they would be invited to this wedding banquet.

Jesus says that the servants were told to bring in all the people they could find, both bad and good. So it was not a question of who deserved to be invited.

Here we see a picture of the grace of God. God’s invitation to come and share his life and salvation is an invitation to all people, an invitation that reaches far beyond who we think should be invited, who we think is worthy to be invited.

This story reminds us that none of us deserve to be invited into the life that God gives. God has gone out to find us wherever we are. It is not a question of how good or bad we are. None of us deserve the invitation.

We come only because God has come to us with his grace, with his love, with the undeserved privilege – God wants us to share in his life. God wants us to celebrate with our Lord Jesus Christ.

But there is one more twist. The father goes into the banquet hall and mingles with the guests. There he sees one guest who is not dressed in wedding clothes, in clothes that are appropriate for a royal celebration.

He has this guest thrown out, thrown into the outer darkness of wailing and moaning. Which is the Bible’s way of speaking about an existence without the life of God, an eternal punishment.

It sounds strange, after such a wonderful invitation. Why was he dressed so poorly? Why was he treated so harshly? It is not because this person was dragged in off the street, and could not be expected to dress up for the occasion.

The point Jesus is making here, is that the only way we can come into the presence of God, the only way we can share in the joy and life of our Saviour, is through the grace of God.

God gives grace. God clothes us, wraps us up in his forgiveness. To be there without wedding clothes means to come and to still ignore and refuse the grace of God. Which is an insult to God and a rejection of the grace of God. Which places us again under the judgement of God, and outside his life.

Our Lord invites us to celebrate with him, to share in his life, the life of sins forgiven and fellowship with our God and Lord.

We live a life of celebration. We express this relationship with our God in a special way when we come to worship. Here we are with God. Here we receive from God. Here we celebrate the grace of God. Here we even taste the banquet of God, as we receive the life-giving food and drink of Christ giving himself to us.

Here we rejoice, and we take that joy with us. Here we look forward to the eternal feast, the heavenly feast, where we share in the perfect joy of life with our God. Amen.

Text: Phil 3:10a
“All I want is to know Christ.”
Pursuing what is important

What was Sir Donald Bradman’s batting average? (99.94)
In what city did the Commonwealth Parliament first sit? (Melbourne)
Which band has received an Australian of the Year Award? (The Seekers)
What Australian movie includes the phrase “Tell him he’s dreaming”? (The Castle).
What is the tallest waterfall in Australia? (Wallaman Falls, Qld).
Where is the Big Prawn? (Ballina).

If you ever want to go on the TV show Million Dollar Minute that’s the kind of knowledge you would need.  You don’t have to be academically brilliant.  In fact, there have been contestants on the show whom I would consider to come from professions that require a good deal of intelligence.  Those who win are the people who can absorb and recall trivia – small details from everyday life that other people simply overlook as unimportant.  If someone asked me, “What nationality was the person who invented the dual flush toilet?” I wouldn’t know because it’s a piece of trivia that I’ve considered not important enough to want to store in my memory forever.  (By the way, it is an Australian – Bruce Thompson in 1980).

When you think about it, our daily lives are made up of quite a bit of trivia – lots of little insignificant things.  I’m thinking of things like brushing your teeth, combing your hair, eating breakfast cereal, hanging out the washing, doing the dishes, having a shower and so on.  None of these events will ever be recorded in a biography of our life.  When our obituary is read at our funeral all those little mundane things that make up 90% of our life won’t get a mention. 

Even though those ordinary events make up so much of our life, they aren’t anywhere near as important as the day we were married, or the birth of our children, the happy times we’ve spent together as a family, or the marriage of our own children and the arrival of grandchildren. 

What is more important – a trendy expensive overseas holiday that masks underlying family tension or a low key holiday where family members share, support and help and enjoy one another’s company and the whole event enhances their relationships? 

Which is more enjoyable – a lavish dinner with all the trimmings in an atmosphere of anxiety and bitterness, or fish and chips eaten in an atmosphere of love and understanding all round?

The world is really good at making unimportant things seem important.  The people involved in advertising know exactly how to make trivial things seem so important.  In fact, they make it seem that our lives wouldn’t be complete if we didn’t follow their advice.  They keep telling us in their advertising that if we really want to have a happy and complete life then it’s not possible unless we use their product.
Drive this kind of car.
Buy this brand of cleaning product.
Use this insurance policy.
Buy these and you’ll be as happy meerkat eating a Happy Meal at McDonald’s!  

It’s so easy to turn anthills into mountains.  We get all mixed up.  Little things are treated as big things and big things are treated as little things.  We get side-tracked and our lives are given direction by the small things, the unimportant things.  Well, what really are the important things?

For a start God is important.  Now I know I hardly need to say that in the present company.  Everyone here in this church knows that!  But we all know how often we forget what is really important and get everything out of perspective.

The existence of God and his love for you and me is far more important than knowing the exact age of the earth, as interesting and as important as that information might be. 
The undeserved and unmerited love of God for us is far more important than knowing all the details of how vast and awesome the universe is. 
That God has adopted us into his family through the water of baptism and promised to always walk by our side during the good and bad times in our journey through life is more important than how much we are earning or what brand labels are on our clothes. 
There is nothing more important in the entire world than the special love that God has for each of us.  And yet somehow we manage to get side-tracked. Paul says in Romans 12, “Don’t copy the behaviour and customs of this world” and yet that’s exactly what we do. We copy what other people consider to be the most important and place them before God and his love for us.  It’s easy to copy the world’s values and not even now we’re doing it.  Because everyone else is doing it, it’s natural to think it’s ok, when in actual fact, it’s not God’s way.

Satan attempted to side-track Jesus in the wilderness with all kinds of temptations and get him to focus on fame and saving himself and not on being the Saviour of all people. 
The disciples at times were side-tracked by trivialities (like the discussion about who will be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven).   
The Pharisees and leaders of the Jews tried to discredit Jesus in front of the people with all kind of unimportant issues but Jesus always focussed on what was important. He always came back to the main reason for his presence on earth, “I have come in order that you might have life—life in all its fullness” (John 10:10). 

Jesus reached out to people in love.  He healed people. He raised people from the dead.  He forgave their sins.  He taught them and challenged them to “take up their cross and follow him”.  Thesewere great things but the greatest was still to come.  He died on a brutal cross and in doing so paid the price for our failures and our over emphasis on the unimportant things of life.

Jesus died.  And he was raised again.  There is nothing trivial about what is happening here.  This is the most important piece of news to have ever come into our world.  Jesus died for our sakes.  He went through all of that just for us, simply because he wants us all to share in the joy of eternal life.  If you want to know what the most important thing in this life is – this is it.  Jesus and everything he has done for us.

In his letter to the Philippians, Paul put it this way, “Everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ” (Phil 3:8-9a).   

Whatever Paul had considered as important prior to his conversion is no longer his first priority.  Once Paul thought his heritage as a Jew, the festivals and ceremonies of the Jewish religion, and obedience to the law, were the most important things.  But in comparison with the Christ, all of this pales into insignificance, or to use Paul’s word, “I consider it all as mere garbage.”

One of the reasons we need regular and faithful commitment to church attendance is that here we can make a time for a weekly mini-retreat to a place where the ordinary business of living is set aside to re-focus on what is really important.  It is a time to find forgiveness, to celebrate, to give thanks and to hear what he has to say to us through his Word. This is a time when we can place Jesus and the work he has given us as the one thing that is truly important in our lives.  This is the one time we can be served by Jesus as he gives us his body and blood and we are totally focussed on him and his love for us.  While the world around us is screaming, “Make me the most important part of your life”, the time we spend with Jesus here on Sunday and every day in prayer and devotion time, keeps us focussed.   

Paul is making it so clear to his readers.  “Everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord … All I want is to know Christ”.  That is the most important thing for him.  Everything else is not important – it’s rubbish.  It is Christ and only Christ who can give hope.  When it comes down to it everything in this world will pass away, even this body, and it is then that we only have Christ and he gives us everything we need.

It’s so easy to get everything upside down and our values and priorities topsy-turvy and end up regarding Jesus and his love for us as less important than we should. 
Today we are challenged to put first things first. 
We are challenged to take another look at what we regard as important and to recognise those things that we have elevated to take the place of the most important of all things.
There is nothing trivial about Jesus Christ – his suffering and dying for us. 
There is nothing trivial about the special relationship that our heavenly Father has with us and this is made clear to us in Baptism and in Holy Communion. 
There is nothing trivial about the presence of our Saviour in our everyday lives as he comforts, guides and supports us.
There is nothing trivial about the promise Jesus gave that “All who live and believe in him will never die” but will enjoy life in heaven forever.

Keeping Christ central in a world that demands that so many other things are more important is hard work and it’s becoming more and more difficult to make Christ central in our ever increasing secular society that has no understanding of God whatsoever.  The apostle knew that as well as anyone because he also lived in a non-christian world and talked about constant striving and to never think that this business is a pushover – because it’s not. 

He knows how important Jesus is and so he keeps on reminding himself, “All I want to know is Christ” and he keeps on telling those whom he loves, “All you need to know is Christ – he is the most important”.

In Jesus Christ there is life.  There is nothing trivial about that!

© Pastor Vince Gerhardy